Little Artist

Drawing is Adrianna's latest entertainment. As you can see, we haven't mastered the art of holding a pencil yet, so she holds it her own special way. :)

Adrianna had a blast with her cousin Sam when he visited last week - she still asks for him when she wakes up in the morning.












Taking out the trash is still the highlight of AJ's week - from her reaction, it even beats Christmas.




























Adrianna loves her new (used) piano - we like it because it has volume control!

Recent Pictures

Trip to Florida

Last week Nate and I took six of our teens on a college trip. My parents kept Adrianna, and we flew down to Clearwater, FL to visit Clearwater Christian College. It was so fun to get away and relax! I enjoyed getting a glimpse of where Nate spent four years of his life, and the teens loved the experience. Nate and I stayed in a hotel while the kids stayed on campus. The 80-degree weather was a huge plus, and we were all able to enjoy an afternoon at the beach catching some rays. It was a rude awakening to come back to COLD Michigan, but we were thankful for the opportunity to go.

In other news, the sun is starting to peek out here. Even though it's only 11 degrees outside right now, it's such a blessing to have the sun shining in the windows. Adrianna has explored every corner and crack or this house in the last few weeks - poor thing. She'll be very ready to be outside this spring. I think she's cutting her two-year molars already; that seems way too early! She's talking ALL the time - in fact she has conversations with herself in her crib. We often hear her saying, "Dolly jump? Yeah. More? Okay!" Fortunately for me, she loves her crib and will sometimes play in it for up to 2 hours. I'm hoping that will last for many more years. :-)

And winter goes on . . .

I'm not counting on anything the groundhog says because we still have tons of snow. And it is snowing as I speak. I did hear a few birds outside this morning, and that gives me some hope. We are all craving spring, especially me and AJ. She has enjoyed getting to play in the snow once in awhile. And as you can see in the picture, she wears her boots around often just in case Mommy lets her go out. She has also become quite the connoisseure with taking out the trash. Trash day is quite exciting, and she enjoys carrying around the bag of dirty diapers - how gross. We're hoping this eagerness will last into her teenage years.

We're back . . .

We're back after a long week! Our church sent Nate and I down to Lafayette, IN to attend the NANC conference this last week. We dropped Adrianna off at my parents' house (they live in Indy) on our way. It was my first time away from Adrianna for more than a night, so I wondered how it would go. But everything went very well. AJ LOVED being with Grandpa and Grandma for the week - she didn't cry for us once. And I did well too, although I was very ready to see her again. Now we're home and "re-training" Adrianna (no offense, Mom and Dad!). :-) We were VERY thankful to know that she was in good hands. And Nate and I were able to spend lots of time together at the conference, going out to eat every night and visiting with old friends. It was a valuable experience!






Despite what these pictures say, Adrianna does not run around with spaghetti sauce on her face ALL the time. :-)

















I'm not sure why the Mr. Potato Head box is on her head.















Playing before bedtime
















After lasagna night!!!

















Adrianna wearing Nate's hat