More Lovies

Over the weekend, we broke one of my rules and started letting Adeline have lots of snugglies to sleep with. Usually, she sleeps with her head pushed up in the corner of her crib against the soft bumpers. Since she slept in the pack and play at Jon's parents' this weekend, I decided to put a big stuffed animal/pillow in there with her so she'd have something to snuggle up against. (You remember the disaster of the hotel room back in July.) I didn't want a repeat of a sleepless night, so I was willing to try anything. Anyway, it worked like a charm! She slept an hour longer than usual, and it was so cute seeing her all snuggled and comfy.

So I thought that was going to be it. She would just get to sleep with something like that when we were in a strange place and in the pack and play. I keep learning over and over that as a parent, you eat your words almost daily. Since her sleep sack was used in the carseat to keep her from sitting in puke on the way home, she didn't have it to nap in when we got home. She usually does NOT sleep without her sleep sack, so I piled her crib full of blankies and snugglies and sure enough, she slept like a charm. I had to wake her up! We decided to keep it going. Knock on wood, so far every nap or night time she's slept since I started putting things in her crib, she has had to be woken up. It could be that she's just finally not teething, or I like to think it's because she's just so comfy in her bed! A picture of all her snugglies:

On another note, she is really getting the hang of signing lately. Tonight all through dinner, she signed "more" over and over. We almost ran out of food to feed her, then she finally said "all done." Then after dinner, we were playing in the playroom and I started to clean everything up for bath time and I took a toy away from her. Instead of her throwing a fit like has been the case lately, she very calmly looked at me and signed "more." Of course, I gave her the toy back! I'm so proud of my smart girl!

Weekend of Birthdays

As you all know, my birthday was last Friday. Adeline and I travelled to New Boston early Friday morning so we could spend my birthday with my parents. Jon, Shane, and Juliet got there later that night.

The ride down wasn't bad. My mom got Adeline a DVD player for the car with her credit card points. We made it all the way to Waldron without the TV since that is Adeline's normal nap-time. We stopped in Waldron, filled up with gas, got me something to eat, then started back down the road. I gave Adeline her snack trap and sippy cup, turned on the movie and we were off. She did great! She ate and watched the video on repeat the rest of the way home. She only fussed a few times. Right as we were pulling up to my parents she began to get a little fussy because it was nap-time again. When I got her out of the car, my parents, and my aunt were all standing there. Adeline was being shy and kept burying her head in my chest. It was so cute! We got to visit some with Tater Tot, then it was time for Adeline to nap. Jon and Adeline got me a Kindle for my birthday, so I spent the afternoon reading. (I was supposed to get my haircut, but didn't make it in time)

That night, my parents threw me a birthday party with my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. We had a great time.

My beautiful birthday cake

With my cousin Spencer & grandpa

It was so humid outside..Adeline's hair got really curly

With another cousin, Kasey

I was really bad about taking pictures. There were lots more people there, but didn't get pictures. :(

The next morning, my mom made blueberry pancakes..yumm!

We stayed for Adeline's morning nap, then my parents fed her some yogurt for snack, and we left to go to Jon's parents'.

Adeline got some snuggle time in with her Tiny.

That night we celebrate mine and Karen's birthdays. Juliet made us each a cake! Karen's was coconut and mine was yellow with chocolate cream cheese icing..delicious!

During the opening of gifts, Adeline became very fussy, so Jon went ahead and started giving her her bath. Shortly after the bath started, she became absolutely hysterical. She NEVER cries in the bathtub. I ran upstairs to see what was going on. She reached for me then would not let me put her down. Anytime I tried to put her down to dry her off or put clothes on her, she lost it again. I was finally able to get her dressed and nursed and rocked her and she went to bed a full hour early and slept until 7:45 the next morning. I think she was just absolutely exhausted from traveling and being around so many people she's not that familiar with. She has never acted that clingy to me before and it worried me, but it also made me feel so loved!

Sunday, we left NB around 9am and headed home. (Shane & Juliet were coming later in my car.) We were scheduled to stop in Mena for lunch and some stretching, but about 20 miles south of Mena (in the middle of nowhere) Adeline started to get fussy. I decided to go ahead and give her her snack and water. Well, she was eating the snack and still fussing a little and she got choked. I leaned over into the backseat to make sure she was ok and she cried out then projectile vomited all over herself! It was disgusting! I screamed "She just puked EVERYWHERE" and Jon said, "Do I need to pull over?" "YES YES YES!!" So he whips over into the driveway of a house with a building in their yard with this painted on the side of it in huge letters: "WE'RE TOO POOR TO BE REPUBLICANS" I jump out of the car, and run to the backseat, then come to a screeching stop. Tears are streaming down Adeline's face and she is soaked with breakfast and snack and water and milk! It's so heartbreaking, but I don't know what to do. "What are we going to do?" I ask Jon, almost in tears myself. "Get her out of there" he says, calmly. So I proceed to pull my sad little baby out of the puke-covered carseat and hold her and sway her back and forth, all the while getting myself covered in vomit. My very with-it husband mans-up and goes into puke cleaning action. He drags out our trashbag filled with dirty laundry from the weekend and begins to try to soak up all the puke he can with our dirty clothes. Then he bags it all back up and finds Adeline's sleep sack for her to sit on since the carseat is still pretty much saturated. As I'm in the process of changing Adeline's clothes, the lady of the house comes riding down her driveway in her golfcart asking if we need any help. I told her, "Our daughter just threw up and we're cleaning it all up, but I think we've got it under control now. Sorry about parking in your driveway." What I wanted to say was, "YES, please let us use your washing machine" or "Can you bring us some wet towels?" She tells us not to worry about being in her driveway and to take our time, then she returns to her house. After the carseat and Adeline are as clean as we could get them, I begin to assess the damage on myself. My shirt is covered in puke, so I have to dig through my bag for a clean shirt. Then I proceed to stand in between the back and front doors and strip down (just like they do in movies). Did I mention it's about 55 degrees during all this? Anyway, we finally get back on our way to Mena. After a few miles, we were able to laugh at the catastrophe and Jon says, "If that lady hadn't been so nice, I would have said, 'No we don't need your help; we're Republicans, we're self-sufficient.'"

All in all, I had a great birthday and I felt very loved. I ended up receiving 4 birthday cakes! My work got me a cake from Rick's, my parents got me the beautiful cake you see above AND an ice cream cake, and Juliet made me one! I think I'm caked out for a while. :)

27 Years

Lindsey’s blog has been hi-jacked!

It’s been hi-jacked by her Mom because today is her birthday! Happy 27^th Birthday to Lindsey!! Let’s see, where do I begin? Since I’ve never blogged, I can’t say….This is what she’s doing since the last blog so I guess I’ll start at the beginning!

On this day in 1983, the Lord blessed us with the sunshine of our lives!

Her childhood was filled with every activity available, including dance, piano, twirling, painting, Girl Scouts, church groups, softball, basketball and pets of all kinds! Needless to say, she kept us busy.

Then came the teenage years! They were filled with youth group activities, majorette”ing” and the normal teen girl drama!! She learned to drive and that opens up a new chapter. That poor Volkswagen Beetle! I’m still hearing stories that are new to me. (which I’d rather not know, even now)

Lindsey graduated high school in May 2002. That was a day to celebrate! Whew…..high school was over! I don’t know who was happier, me or her! That senior year was, well let’s say a time she asserted her independence and included the ONLY time I had to conference with one of her teachers!!

Then came time for her to leave our nest. She moved to Ft. Worth, Texas to attend Texas Christian University. That day she drove down our driveway is a day I’ll never forget. I’d never been more proud and sad at the same time. She left a small town where she’d lived her whole life as an only child and headed to the big city and a dorm! I know there were days that she wanted to come home but she didn’t. She survived her freshman year in the dorm and then moved into an apartment where she was much happier. She graduated a proud Horned Frog in 2006!

At this point, she moved to Dallas to enroll in TWU’s Occupational Therapy program. She had found her calling! It was during the first few months there that she reconnected with a childhood friend from home, aka Jon Richey!! Needless to say, I was thrilled! I love the Richey family! I thought….YES, the man I’ve prayed for her entire life AND he’s from New Boston!! He is really and truly Mr. Wonderful!! They married on September 1, 2007. She graduated OT school in December 2008 and soon became….are you ready…….EMPLOYEED!!

On November 8, 2009 my sweet daughter gave birth to my granddaughter! Adeline Blythe Richey and made me a Nana! She is best thing that’s come into my life since September 24, 1983!

Since you read this blog you know the rest.

I hope you’ve enjoyed traveling down Lindsey Whittington Richey Memory Lane.

Milestone Day

Adeline has had a major milestone and cuteness day! I'm so glad I only work Tuesday-Thursday, or I would have missed it all!

First of all, we went out to eat lunch today with Jon. While at lunch, she signed AND said "all done". We've been working on this a lot because lately she's started throwing fits so we've been really pushing sign language so she can better communicate her needs/wants. She's been saying something that sounded like "ah day" for a few days now. We just thought she was practicing new sounds, but then at lunch she was throwing a fit and not wanting to eat so were signing and saying "all done" and she looked up and signed and said it herself! We were so proud. (I'll try to get it on video.)

After we got home, we went outside to get the mail. We got a few packages, so I was opening them in the dining room. Adeline crawled off down the hall and I just assumed she went to her room. A few minutes later I heard her in our room, so I went back to check on her. She had pulled up at my nightstand, pulled off a book and a box of tissues and had proceeded to throw tissues all over the room. I had no idea she could reach that high.

Shortly after that, I was putting away some clothes in my closet. She is fascinated with my closet and crawls in every chance she gets. Well, when I was done, she wouldn't come out, so I turned off the light and pushed the door closed (not all the way). I wanted to see what she'd do. She crawled to the door, stood up, grabbed the door handle, and pulled the door all the way closed! (I could see her little toes sticking out under the door.) This is not what she had intended to do because it made her very upset. I guess she knew that door handle was supposed to do something..haha.

She woke up early from her nap, so I knew she was still tired, but she wouldn't go back to sleep. I finally just got her up. I had a really bad headache, so I put her in the playroom while I sat on the couch to eat a snack. She got really quiet, and usually this means bad news, so I sat up to see where/what she was doing. This is what I found:

Isn't that the cutest thing? She LOVES this giraffe.

Now, for the grand finale.....

When Jon got home from work today, Adeline took her very first steps!! She was standing in the kitchen holding onto the barstool. Jon came in and squatted down in front of where the ovens are and held his hands out to her. She let go of the stool, turned, and took 4 steps to him! I was standing right behind her so we both got to see it! We both teared up and clapped and cheered. She was so proud of herself! I will try to get this on video as well.

Bowling & Stepping

Tonight our connection group met up at a local bowling alley. We took the 3 teenage boys we've been taking to church with us and we all had a great time. I didn't get many pictures because I was busy holding babies and losing. :)

Yes, we ate every slice

During all the chaos of fussy babies and babies being passed around from person to person, I just took a moment to drink it all in. These are the days we'll cherish forever. When our kids are young and we're all learning how to be parents together. I am so thankful to be a part of a group of Christian people whose kids Adeline will grow up with and whose company we'll hopefully enjoy for many years.

When we got home, Adeline tried to take a few steps. She found this giraffe in the bottom of her closet today and has decided it's her new favorite toy. She took 1 or 2 little steps toward it, but always immediately sat down afterwards. I got a little bit on video, but it was getting late and she was getting tired. I promise she wasn't hurt at the end.

Monday-Friday

What has been going on in the Richey house this past week? Well, I'll show you.

On Monday, Adeline ate some blueberry yogurt for the first time

And she learned how to use her phone

On Tuesday she woke up with some crazy bed-head so Mommy had to snap a picture before work.

She also threw a couple fits with Daddy that afternoon

Wednesday she played and played.

Thursday Daddy went to the Delta Waterfowl Banquet, while Adeline and Mommy had dinner with a friend from work. (no pictures)

Friday morning she had a snack while Mommy showered and got ready (we're doing snacks at 10:30 now instead of nursing..it's going very well)

We went to visit Jennifer & Jillian (no pictures)

Mommy made lots of baby food while Adeline napped.

We went to Uncle Shane's & Aunt Juliet's for dinner.

While there, not only did Adeline swing in a hammock for the first time, but she also encountered her very first step. They have one step down from their living room to the study/sewing room. It's less than a foot high and it's all carpeted, so I just let her figure it out. The first time, she went down it like a pro. She crawled up to it, then turned around and lowered herself down backwards. The second time, she went at it full force and rolled off. It didn't bother her though!

Tomorrow I have to work at the hospital (boo), but we have a fun evening planned!

Quiet, Crafty Weekend

This weekend we didn't have anything major planned. I spent some time doing some craft projects (yes, me). One of them is a secret until her birthday invitations are out, but I'll give you a sneak peek.

The other is an idea I got from this blog for Adeline's playroom. I think it turned out well!

Friday night we went out to eat and did a little shopping, then came home and got ready for bed. Adeline is always so hyper and happy right after her bath. She's showing out in her new PJs from her Tater Tot.

Saturday morning we lounged around the house. We recently moved the elliptical into our bedroom and Adeline is fascinated with it.

Tulip taking a nap

Saturday night, Jarrod came over and we cooked fajitas. Adeline loves her Uncle Jarrod.

Sunday evening, I decided to try some thinned creamy peanut butter with Adeline. My book said it was ok, so I gave it a shot. I mixed it with water then spread a very thin layer over a piece of toast. She loved it, but she got a fat lip. :( I think she may have had a cut on her lip from biting it and the PB got in there and made it swell because it wasn't her whole mouth and there weren't any other symptoms. I'm still going to wait a while until I try it again though.

It looks like she's saying "put more right here"

Now I'm enjoying my Monday with my girl!