made it through

Well, we made it through our first full week...at daycare anyway. Tomorrow Adi will be with G+G Peltier again. I know they are VERY excited for Fridays now. Adi did amazing at daycare this week - she didn't have any issues adjusting and everyone was very impressed.  She had no problems eating, napping and/or smiling while at daycare.  I've definitely appreciated the time I have with her even more now that it's a little more limited.  I've been surprised at how quickly the days have gone by and especially at how little time I spend worrying about Adi during the day.  I guess I've been busy enough catching up at work and we definitely are comfortable with our daycare provider.  Just makes evenings and weekends that much better!

I think I spent the bulk of my time just staring at Adi after work :)  Other than being the first full week back to work, this one was pretty uneventful.  Dan has his first softball game of the season tonight, so Adi and I took a walk in the sunshine and she enjoyed her bathtime.  All in all, a great Thursday.

Isn't she just SO cute?! :)

egg-cellent

so cheesy I know :)
I'm sorry for the lack of updates lately, but I don't feel so bad because I was spending that time enjoying our daughter.  The first two days back to work went really well and I am so thankful that I'm not an anxious, guilty feeling ball of tears!  Only by God's grace have I been able to drop Adi off at daycare and get through the work days without any tears.  I have been reminded that this is for a season and that the Lord knows what is best for me and for our family.  He has provided for us in so many ways and we feel so incredibly blessed.  I definitely cherish the time we have with Adi after work even more now that I don't get to see her every second of the day.  We've also figured out that she seems to get most of her poops out during the day - added bonus for diaper time at home! :)
She's adjusted VERY quickly and well to the new schedule.  She's still getting close to 9 hours of sleep and I've had to wake her up in the morning to feed her - so no problem there.  I haven't done AS well adjusting, since my days start so much earlier and I'm responsible for another being every morning.  I was definitely used to waking up late and getting to work in 2 minutes - but I wouldn't trade it for the world. 

This past weekend, we were able to enjoy our Good Friday service at Church - G+G Peltier came along which was nice since we didn't get to see them on Easter.  We spent Saturday relaxing and getting a few things done around the house.  Then the big day came - we celebrated Easter - Christ is Risen!!  We went to early service so we could have a little time at home to relax and get things together before heading up to G+G Powers' house.  We had lunch with them and took a walk to enjoy the beautiful weather!  Unfortunately, Adi had a minor blow-out in her easter dress before Great Grandpa John and Grace made it over - but we cleaned up and got her back in it for a couple of pictures.  She did great - took a couple of naps, entertained everyone and posed for a few pictures.  She definitely wasn't too into her Easter basket yet though - next year I'm sure will be a different picture!

 Our only family Easter picture - we only had the couch to take it for us, so it's the best we could get...

took this after Church - thankfully she made it through the service without an accident.

Notice the large shoes - they are size "0-6 weeks" and they were still too big on Adilyn.  :) She's just a petite girl. 

Now we're back into the routine - this week has gone well at work and Adi is still doing great at daycare.  We just love this little one!

Back in Action

Well. As many of you know, today was my first day back to work after 14 weeks of maternity leave.  It was amazing being home, getting to know and taking care of our beautiful daughter, Adilyn. 
It's funny because my biggest worry (before having Adi) was that I would be SO tired going back to work. Oddly enough, that wasn't the case at all - I felt well rested (Adi slept 9 hours again last night) and I didn't even have any caffeine! :)
The drop-off this morning was pretty quick, since I knew I had to just walk away at some point instead of waiting to feel 'ready' to leave.  Adi didn't cry, so that made it easier and I knew she was in good hands.  My day went really quickly at work, since I had to move desks right when I got there and the time passed quickly as I attempted to catch up on emails!  I even resisted the urge to call the daycare center during the day to check up on her - knowing that I couldn't do anything anyway, so I might as well try to be productive at work.   It was actually really great catching up with co-workers and I remembered how much I enjoy them! :)
All things considered, the day went really quickly and very smoothly.  But I'm not going to lie, when 3:50pm came around, I was watching the minutes, waiting to be able to leave and pick Adi up! :)  It felt like it took forever to get there (only about 9 minutes) - but when I walked in, Adi was having her diaper changed so I had to be patient again.  Once she was all cleaned up, I took her in my arms and it felt great.  She slept on the car ride home and is still napping in her seat as I type this quick update.

I wanted to say thank you for your prayers and encouragement - it definitely made all the difference.  As my friend Kristen said, we are stronger than we know sometimes as Mommas.  So true!  Adi and I both made it through our first days of change.  Not to say that I didn't have a momentary breakdown last night :) but it was a great experience that led me to pray and give up my anxiety to the Lord...I definitely feel confident in the decision to go back to work at this time and in the care that Adi has during the day while I'm away...Tomorrow, she will be with Grandma Peltier - which I know they'll both love! 

Now time to celebrate 4 wonderful years of marriage with my hubby...Happy Anniversary babe!

 Do we look different? :)

 Adi's first daycare report...

Here are all of the free samples they collected for me while I was on leave!  Thankfully, they didn't try to save the OEP meat packets... :)

Hope you all have a wonderful Easter - remembering why we celebrate - Christ is Risen!

3...

Yikes! When I said I may not blog as much, I didn't think it would be this long - oops!
This is officially the last Monday of maternity leave...Dan said I'm not supposed to say everything like that - and I guess he's right, it doesn't sound very positive now that I'm writing it.  It has been a great 13 & 1/2 weeks with Adilyn.  I am amazed at how beautiful, fun and tiring she is - but most of all at how much my heart has expanded to be filled with love for her.  All of this heart expansion has increasingly shown and reminded me of the love that our Heavenly Father has for us...hard to grasp that He could love us that much - but pretty amazing when we think of how imperfectly we love our own children and we think that's a lot.
As I look back on the last 3+ months, I have mixed emotions.  It has been the most joyful time of my life - becoming a Mother and sharing that with an amazing husband.  However, as many of you know, it has also been a very trying time - as I continue to grieve the loss of my best friends' little girl, Natalie.  I wasn't expecting this time to be filled with anything but rainbows and giggles - but God's plan is always greater than ours; sometimes it matches our expectations, and sometimes it's completely different.  I was able to catch up with this dear friend this past Friday and am so thankful for her friendship - I am so thankful for her strength and her weakness in this time.  I am so thankful for her honesty.  I hate saying it, but it has also made me even more thankful for our little girl, Adilyn.  I am amazed and humbled by the miracle of life - and yes, it is a miracle!  I am thankful for this experience and the way it has changed my heart to not complain, but rejoice for each moment we have with our daughter on this earth.  My heart continues to ache for the loss of Natalie...and probably will for a long time, but I am so thankful that I can hope in the Gospel! Hope in the promises God has told us - to look forward with anticipation for future grace and joy!

That being said, we have been busy, cherishing each moment - though I'm realizing I may need to slow it down a bit more :)
This past weekend, we returned to 'normal'.  We spent Saturday catching up on some housework - cleaning up the yard a bit, Dan built a shelf to store some stuff in the garage and we made a run to dump some things off.  It felt great - though it was a little more challenging while keeping track of Adi and the dog in the midst of it.  Unfortunately, I started feeling under the weather on Saturday - and haven't quite kicked it..hopefully soon!
On Sunday, we slept in a bit, went to Church and attended small group. I feel so incredibly blessed to be a part of such a loving, genuine group of people!  I feel blessed that there is a group of women praying for me each week - lifting up my anxiety, fear and triumphs to the Lord!  Knowing that they are praying for my return to work in...3 days!

Today, I did a test run of my first day back.  I woke up at 5:45am to get ready, feed Adi, pack up her stuff and hit the road.  On the way to the daycare center, I was thinking to myself...why did we pick this daycare, it seems so far away now...As soon as I walked in the door, I remembered exactly why we picked it and am so thankful we did!  Besides it only took me 10 minutes to drive there and about 5 to get to work - which makes my commute approximately 13 minutes longer than it was before :)  I absolutely love the Staff at the center and know that Adi will be in good hands when I go back to work on Thursday. 
I guess today will be a bit like my return to work - in that I haven't stopped going since I woke up, not even a nap! We got to meet up with Grandma Peltier for lunch and some shopping! Then, Adi and I ran errands, trying to get things ready for the big change...I am so thankful that she is laid-back and spent most of the time sleeping in her car seat.  When we got home from our last errand, I left her in the seat while I unpacked groceries and such, since she was sleeping :)

Dan just thought this picture was funny.  The hat matches the outfit she wore to Church on Sunday - but made her look a little...French? or Dan thought Chinese - either way it didn't get worn to Church. Ironically, this outfit didn't get worn home from church as Ms. Adi has a little blow-out sitution during the service.

Always an adventure! :)

enjoying our time...

One week from today, I will just be finishing up my first work day in 14 weeks...{{sigh}}
I am praying for emotional preparation as I set aside extra diapers and wipes to bring to daycare...along with our daughter. I definitely have mixed emotions about my return right now - feeling somewhat excited to see all of my friends/co-workers again and catch up on life - but also feeling very weighed down when I think about parting with Adilyn for an entire 8-9 hours at a time!

For now, we are trying to enjoy each momene together.  I'm resisting my temptation to break routine or selfishly wake Adi up from a nap so I can play with her and see her smile.  I am thankful for the time that I have had off from work, recognizing that not everyone is able to do that.  Our little Adilyn has grown and changed SO much from the day we first met her - and the day we first brought her home...We just love how spunky she is - always making noises, smiling or crying.  We love you little Adilyn, and we're so thankful for how you've changed our lives and grown our hearts.

Even Cade is growing to....see you as a person now. I know he'll like you someday - once he gets over the whole not getting attention...

celebrating...healing

I realize I'm slacking on my posts lately! This past weekend was eventful...
The plan was to spend some quality time as a family and celebrate my 27th birthday.  Though I can't say I feel older simply because of the number, I did feel older when I stopped to recognize my first birthday with a daughter.  I am SO thankful for her - and even though she was born in January, she's the best birthday gift yet.
Dan had rounded up some of our college friends to celebrate my birthday on Friday night.  This was significant because it was the first time we left Adilyn overnight!  She stayed with G+G Peltier while Dan and I went for dinner and drinks with friends at the Tavern on France.  It was a great night and I didn't even worry about Adi (too much) while we were out.  It allowed us a chance to come home and relax together without interruptions and to sleep in...at least that was the plan.  Like I said - this weekend was eventful.  Dan has been under the weather for close to a couple of months now, between a cough, cold, bronchitis and sinus infection.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take advantage of uninterupted sleep either, since my body woke me up at about 5am - only to realize that Adi wasn't there. 
Saturday morning, when I finally got out of bed, the house was empty.  Dan returned with Cade to tell me that he went to the Dr. who said he had some kind of bacterial infection.  We were supposed to head to my Mom's for lunch, but it was pretty clear Dan needed to be in bed.  So, I left and he attempted to rest. 
When I got to my Mom's - she gave me the report...lots of tears.  Apparently, once Dan and I left their house, Adi started to realize that we weren't there and cried - a LOT.  My Mom said she cried for a couple of hours on and off - in between G+G distractions.  Eventually, she calmed down, ate and then slept for 9 hours!  It was SO fun to see her big smile when I got there and greeted her good morning.  :) Made the night away so much more valuable to me.
My sister met up with us for lunch and we went back for cake.  It was a nice, relaxing morning/early afternoon spent with family celebrating.  I'm not huge on birthdays, so it wasn't a big deal that Dan couldn't come, though I was disappointed to not be spending time with him too.  On my way out, I got a phone call from him saying that he was feeling much worse and had been throwing up...So I told him to call the Dr. to see if there was any concern/anything they could do - since they had given him a couple of antibiotics. 
The Dr. told him that given everything he'd told him, he was worried it may be meningitis.  So I got another call on my drive home saying we had to get to the ER right away. I rushed home as quickly as I could and Dan jumped in the car.  We drove to the emergency room and ran in.  The ER Dr. reassured us that she did not think it was meningitis given his other symptoms - so they just started running blood tests and did an x-ray.  She was confident that if they pumped him with enough fluids, he would start to feel better/be on his way to recovery.  4 hours and 4 liters of fluid later, Dan was finally feeling a little better. Though the other antibiotics they gave him through his IV were making him very drowsy.  We were finally on our way home...
Not exactly the birthday I had planned, but we're so thankful that Dan is ok.  We were both very anxious and scared when we heard the word meningitis and are so glad that was not the case! 
Dan spent Sunday and yesterday resting and is feeling a little better, but still not 100%.  We're hoping that this round of antibiotics does the trick! At least I am not feeling sick anymore and Adi is on the mend from her cold.  No fun! We are ready for warmer, cold free weather!

So many thoughts rushed through my head when Dan told me the Dr. thought it was meningitis.  Unfortunately, we know of a couple of different people that recently were struck with the disease, so it was especially scary to us. 
Never in my life have I felt so aware of the finiteness of our lives.  I understand that we are only on this earth for a short period of time, but I guess when you just give birth to your first little child, you feel like your whole life is before you.  Recently, we've been touched by and gone through a series of events that have chipped away at our hearts...making us feel angry, sad, frustrated and sometimes hopeless.  BUT - we have also been reminded that we DO have hope - in the truths of the Gospel of Grace.  Though it's still not easy, we are reminded that we are not deserving of any of the blessings we receive daily.  We are reminded that we only receive grace daily because of the work that Jesus Christ did on the cross for us.  We are reminded that we are not in control and that our plans are not always God's plans. 
We are also reminded that our God is a loving Father - and it's ok for us to be angry and wrestle with Him.  Never in my life have I felt so aware of my weakness as now.  I am so thankful for the sanctifying process that the Lord allows us to experience. 

OK - I know that was a lot of words.  Now for some pictures - the real reason you all visit :)

Dan called me into our room to show me how Adi 'decided' to take a nap in our bed. :)

CUTE booties we got - had to get a pic with them on before she outgrows them

Baby 'UGGs' - still a little big for her, but it's almost too warm to use 'em now..and they're too cute!

Just a close up of our growing girl

Adi is 3 months old today!! Time flies!

thought this was funny - I think she was getting sick of the many shots I took...

Adilyn is 3 months old today.  She is growing so fast and we're loving her personality.  Lately, she's been awake much more during the day and not content to just swing.  We've been busting out the playmat and giving her tours of the house and she loves it all.  She's much more 'active' now that she sleeps so much longer at night.  She slept about 9 hours the last few nights and was sleeping at least 7 the nights before that.  We're hoping this is the new sleep pattern, not just a fluke - either way, I am loving catching up on some much needed sleep! 

This is also the last full week I have with Adi before I go back to work (April 21).  SO if I am bad at posting this week, that's why - trying to spend as much time with the peanut as I can. Please start praying for my return to work - knowing that this is for a season and that the Lord will give me the strength I need to do it.

playful

in the last couple of weeks, Adi has been showing much more of her personality and playfulness and we are loving it!  She's awake much more during the day which is fun.  She's also started to enjoy 'play time' more.  It's been great getting out in the warm weather too! Just when we think she can't get any cuter, she does - every day!
She's also been sleeping longer this week - not sure if it's a habit change or due to her cold...either way, last night she slept 7.5 hours! I am definitely appreciative and taking advantage of the extra shut eye while I can since I'm not counting on it to continue for good quite yet.

on her playmat - accidentally hitting some of the dangling toys...

hanging out with Daddy after work

 Dan does this thing with his hands - whenever he's just sitting his hands are in fists...I used to poke fun at him and call them Baby Hands - because I thought that's what babies usually do.  Now he sees that it's true.

Cade has enjoyed the warmer weather too - as we took a family trip to the dog park. Adi hung out in the BabyBjorn and did pretty well while Cade played.  

shaping up

Well the weather is finally starting to turn around - sun is shining and we're reaching the 50s! It's made grocery getting and errand running a little easier for Adilyn and me.  This last weekend, we spent some time with G+G Powers and G+G Peltier.  We had some family time and rested a bit also.  Adi started to get our hopes us by sleeping 7 hours Saturday and Sunday nights!  Unfortunately, that streak broke last night as I was up at 3am again.  Oh well - we figure she probably needed a little extra sleep to try to kick this cold.  She still has a bit of a cough and is sneezing some - but looking a little better...slowly but surely.  I guess that's just the reality of cold season in MN - baby or not.

Today we met up with our friends Ashley and Riggins to mall walk and catch up. It was great to get out and socialize with some adult conversation - thanks Ash! :) Fortunately, both babes slept almost the whole time! 

I was feeling extra motivated by the sun when I got home, so I also took Adi for a walk outside - so glad we bought that jogger (only $35 from one of our neighborhood friends)! 

first cold

I usually don't update on the weekends - but wanted to post quickly. Today marks a sad first for Adilyn - her first cold. :(  Poor girl started sneezing a lot yesterday and woke up with a little cough and running nose. Her left eye was also pretty gunked up.  We decided to take her to our Dr's ready care this AM just cause she's still so young.  The Dr. assured us that her lungs sound clear and her ears look good - which is what we were most worried about. Just signs of a true cold - runny nose, cough and lots of sneezes.  The Dr said her eye is probably gooey because she has a narrow tear duct - likely will just get clogged up when she has a cold since we haven't seen watery eyes before this.  Thankful for that! Now we just have to let her stay hydrated and get lots of rest to kick this cold!
One exciting outcome of the Dr. visit was getting her weighed again :)  She is officially 8lbs 5oz today!  I can't believe how much she's gained even since her 2 month appointment just a couple of weeks ago. Pretty exciting that she's gaining weight so well!

Ok - that's all :) Hope you all have a great weekend!