1. She went to nursery at church for the first time on Sunday, and it was so great! No more running the halls, trying to keep her quiet, and seriously failing. She loved playing with toys with the other kids!

2. She went to the doctor last week for her 18 month appt, got 3 shots, and for the first time, she anticipated the shots and started crying BEFORE the nurse even stuck her. She knew what was going on over there, and she was NOT happy about it. Her stats:

• Weight: 23 lbs 15 oz (45%) – Yay, this is the highest percentile she’s ever been! Thanks Grandma for fattening her up a bit!
• Height: 31 In (29%)
• Head: 47cm (62%)

3. The girl TALKS! I can’t even count the number of words she says, but she just blows me away with how much she communicates. She knows the difference between “I like it”, and “no like it”, she counts “one, two, three”, she says animal sounds (“MOO”, “Ribbit”, “quack”, etc), she talks on the phone (“hello, How are ya, good” is what she says everytime I let her hold the phone)

"Hi Mom"

4. She loves SHOES. She puts my shoes or Zac’s shoes on if they are left out on the floor, and she is very particular about which shoes I put on her.

5. She has discovered bubbles. She chases them around the backyard and tries to eat/pop them. Zac just bought a bubble blower and it is awesome! Now I don’t have to pass out trying to blow bubbles for hours!

6. She is obSESSED with Elmo. She thinks that is the sole reason for the computer, and whenever she sees me sit down at the computer, she says “Elmo please?” So cute.

7. She loves to go on walks, and has decided that she wants to push the stroller instead of ride in it. She calls it her “Strollie”.

8. We live near the airport, so she often gets to see airplanes flying in the sky. She ALWAYS points them out and wants to watch them until they land.

9. She is becoming such a cuddler, which I love! She gives hugs and kisses to Zac and me on a daily basis. It is the greatest.

10. She is learning to say prayers, and folds her little arms and closes her eyes SO TIGHT. Now if I can just get her to do it in church, when it really matters!

11. Favorite Foods: peanut butter sandwiches, ritz crackers, olives (she loves to put them on her fingers), cereal (and she loves to drink the milk after the cereals gone), fruit snacks, and bananas.

12. Her hair is finally long enough for pigtails! Yay!

Hiding

I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna pull out these pigtails and you can't stop me.

13. She says “Hi” to everyone! Cashiers at the store, people at church, any child she sees anywhere. It’s just “Hi, Hi, Hi” all day long when we’re in public with her.

13. My dad and I went to the driving range last week, and she had a great time learning to golf. She picked up all the golf balls she could find and carried them around in her bucket the whole time.

14. This summer we will be spending a lot of time doing two of her favorite activities: Swinging at the playground, and swimming! She has discovered a love for swimming, and now cries whenever I take her out of the pool. I’m glad her fear of water was short-lived. We swim at grandma’s house, our neighborhood pool, or at apartment pools where our friends live.

She could swing for hours

15. She is still taking two naps a day! I’ve given up trying to get her down to one good nap, so two short ones will have to do for now. As long as she’s happy, I’m happy, so we’ll work with two naps.

16. She loves to play hide and seek, and her favorite spot to hide is in the nightstands we have sitting in our dining room (see pictures above).

17. She is very loving and nurturing. She gives her stuffed animals big hugs and tries to feed them and let them drink from her sippy cup. She also loves babies. She wants to hold their hands, help them walk, give them hugs, share her toys, and kiss them. She will be a good big sister someday.

18. Addie has completely stolen our hearts, and we love her so much! It is hard to express how much I love this little girl. She makes being a mommy so much fun!

So after the candy experience, we thought Adelyn would like to sit on the Easter Bunny’s lap and get a picture. She is usually very social and friendly, but lately has become pretty clingy, and aware of things that make her scared or uncomfortable (namely the waterfalls at the Arboretum, being babysat at the gym, or being set down anywhere that isn’t home for fear that I will leave her there).  As we waited in line for the Easter Bunny, Addie seemed very excited to sit on his lap, because all the other kids and babies ahead of her were loving it!  So here is how it went when it was our turn:

Yup, that is my kid’s high pitched scream, followed by about 30 or so parents’ laughter. It was pretty funny, and on our way out of the store, a couple of people asked if that was our little screamer. I’m pretty sure the entire store could hear it. But seriously, watch it again, and see how the bunny reacts. I would be scared too!

These are some fun videos of Addie. She had lots of fun with some bubble wrap that we found over the weekend. I hope you enjoy the videos.

Bubble Wrap Hat

Bubble Wrap Stomp

After Bath Time

Making Faces

Funny Face

Sweet Girl

Necklace

Look a Tree

Dressed to the Nines

Little Shadow

Look Birdies

Playing House

Just the Two of Us

Daddy and Addie

Clap for my Song

As you can see from the number of photos that I felt were worth of sharing on the blog I LOVED the lens.  I guess I will have to start saving those pennies until I can afford my own.  I hope you enjoyed all of the photos as much as I liked shooting and editing them.

She raises her eyebrows SO HIGH that it almost throws her head back. It is hilarious. Often it is accompanied with this big mouth:

She does this over and over again, especially if I’m laughing along with her. She is such a ham.

Zac went on his 2nd to last business trip of the year, so we are excited about that! He was in Chicago, and next week he’ll be in Newark, NJ. After that, he’s homefree for the rest of the year! I wanted to come with him and spend a few days in NYC, but it was too last minute and I wasn’t sure how comfortable I’d be, traveling from Newark to NYC everyday, alone, and with a baby. Maybe next time.

I’m still teaching piano and voice lessons, and really enjoying it! I also love spending time with Adelyn and watching her learn new things every day. She is such a talker! She can say “Addie”, “Daddy”, “Mommy”, “Bottle” (sounds more like “body”), “Baby”, “Wow”, and “Hi”. And she still gives those slobbery kisses. She actually kissed a boy yesterday at church. Isn’t that where it always starts?! Good thing we like him and his parents:)

Here are some pictures of our little angel:

The day started out rainy and cold.  The race was delayed about an hour because some of the bike race roads were under water.  Dangerous for road bikes…  We didn’t prepare for cold rainy weather but we did our best.  Notice the baby in a trash bag poncho / blanket in every photo.  We were trying to keep her lips from turning blue.  It rained all day and it turned the whole park into a red mud pit.  Needless to say we were wet, tired, and covered in red mud at the end of the day.

Even though the weather was poor my Dad had a great race.  He took second place in his age group and was 15th overall in his event.  Not too bad for a “Big Guy” (that is what every one called him as he passed, “Good Job Big Guy!”) and for his first triathlon type event. Congratulations Dad, and thanks for inviting us.  Now we just need to get training for the next one!  Maybe I will join you.

Day One:  The flights (yes, we had  a connection in Salt Lake City) went great! We got the bulkhead on both flights, so Adelyn had some space to roam around and play on the floor. BIG lifesaver. Considering she only slept 30-40 minutes at a time, 3 times that day. We were traveling for almost 9 hours, so it was nice to have the extra space. We even got to watch a couple movies, she was so good on the flights. When we got to Hawaii, we picked up our car and headed to the Dole Plantation. Because Zac is working Monday through Friday, we wanted to cram in everything that he wanted to do on the weekends. So as exhausted as we all were, we headed 20 minutes out of town to learn about how pineapples grow, and taste the yummy pineapple ice cream that we had heard so much about. We took the Pineapple Express train around the plantation, and Adelyn stayed awake for all of this! She thinks she is such a big girl!

Whoopsidaisy!

On the Pineapple Express

Dole Plantation

After the Plantation, it was back to the hotel and off to bed. Adelyn went to bed about 6pm, and slept until 6am! So much for adapting to a 5 hour time difference. Once again, we are counting our blessings for this!

Day Two: We visited a local ward and went to church, then took a long drive up to Laie. We drove around BYU-H (we both so wish we had gone there for a semester or term), went to the temple visitor’s center, and drove up to the North Shore to try and find some surfers to watch. We didn’t spend much time up there, because traffic was crazy, and we really didn’t see any surfers, so back down to Honolulu we go. Oh, and we met Mark Eubanks on the temple grounds. He was the chief meteorologist in Salt Lake City, who had the white jacket that he wore on the broadcasts that called for snow. He now runs the visitors center with his wife. We wanted to get his autograph, but thought that was maybe a little inappropriate on the temple grounds. Back in Honolulu, we went to the Waikiki Aquarium. Wouldn’t you think that an aquarium right on the ocean would have the most awesome exhibits? We thought so too. Not so much.

Day Three: We all got up early and went to the beach! It was a nice, cool morning, and we walked about 10 minutes to the beach in front of the big Hilton Hawaiian Village (it’s not a hotel, it’s a village. Seriously, there are like 9 huge buildings in this place). These are Adelyn’s reactions to the beach:

At the Beach

Dipping her toes in

Clinging to Daddy

NOT liking this

Okay, so she doesn’t like the beach. Yet. Hopefully this will change. After Zac had to go to work, my aunt picked me up and we went up to Laie, where she and her kids are staying for the week (crazy that they just happened to be here this week too!) and we hung out on the beach up there for the afternoon. Zac came up after work and we had dinner from the Shrimp Shack (which I’d heard or read was so great, but I thought it was just okay). It was so fun to have Aunt Karen and her kids to hang out with for the day. I was afraid of being bored while Zac was at work this week, but we have found stuff to do!

Day Four: Okay, this is taking forever, because the internet connection at the hotel is SO SLOW, so I’m gonna do the rest of this in bullet format.

• Ala Moana Shopping Center in the morning with Adelyn. HUGE mall, where we sampled some See’s Candy and some Honolulu Cookie Company cookies. Both were delish.
• Iolani Palace: Would have been better if I could have seen the whole thing. Children under 5 are not allowed in the upper rooms (ballrooms, bedrooms, meeting rooms) of the palace, but I at least got to see the basement galleries and an informational 15 minute video. This is the only royal palace on American soil!!
• Ono’s Hawaiian food – we got this recommendation from a coworker of Zac’s. It was pretty good, but I guess I’m not the hugest fan of authentic Hawaiian cuisine, because I didn’t love it.
• Leonard’s. Malasadas. Wow. Please visit this place if you are in Honolulu in the near future.  Malasadas are Portuguese donuts, and they are SUPER good. This was my favorite treat so far. We got a custard filled, coconut filled, chocolate filled, and plain cinnamon. Custard was the best.

Authentic Hawaiian Cuisine

Gotta Love those malasadas

• Lunch with Joy and Cassidy at unnamed Korean BBQ place: food was actually pretty darn good. I even tried a piece of kim chi. Joy said to eat it with some rice and chicken, and it wasn’t bad at all. Joy was my freshman roommate at BYU, and is from Honolulu. She and her husband are here for an internship this summer. I’m so glad she took me out today!
• Diamondhead Hike with Joy: It was a hot day, but we made it to the top without too much pain, and even carrying Adelyn! Thanks Ashley, the ergo was a serious lifesaver! I owe you one. The view from the top was so pretty. You pretty much get a 360 degree view of the whole corner of the island. Beaches, mountains, tall high-rise hotels, neighborhoods, etc. It was beautiful.
• Wailua’s Shave Ice: Joy recommended this place, and I liked it a lot. I’m not a huge shaved ice person, but this was shaved so finely that it didn’t feel like chomping on flavored ice, like it normally does to me.
• Aloha Tower Marketplace with Zac after work: I was expecting lots of fun shops and restaurants. It is right on the harbor and has a little tower you can take an elevator up 10 stories and look around. The view was great, but the shops left much to be desired. There really wasn’t much there.

Hiking Diamond Head Crater

Me, Adelyn and Joy at the top