Lost

So it has been exactly a MONTH now since I posted anything. So much for that two posts a month plan. Just thought I would post a quick note so my long distance fans, I mean readers, would know that we are still indeed alive up here, just a little distracted by life to post about it.

We have been in and out of town and are about to head out of town again to go visit the family in Texas!!!!! Aaron's family came into town for Makaiah's baby dedication and we had such a good visit.

In less exciting news of our busy-ness, my sister Jenn was in the hospital, then had to have surgery. My dad was in the hospital, then had to have surgery. Please pray for their "miraculous recovery" as my dad put it. I know the Lord loves us and has a plan for each of us.

Now, can we all promise to take care of ourselves and each other?!?! See you guys in a couple weeks (maybe:).

A New Baby Cousin!

Hillary & Dan's baby is finally here! Mikaiah Grace Donohoue was born Feb 14th and weighed 8 lbs 9 oz. That is almost as much as Adelyn did, if you can believe that. Poor Hillary--who I am pretty sure is about half my size! She was definitely a trooper and somehow was still smiling when she told us about her trauma...must certainly be all those new mommy endorphins!

Here is Aaron, the proud "blood uncle" as he called it. We have one niece on my side, but as he pointed out, it is definitely different when it is your own little sister having the baby.



We were sad to be down in Sunriver during the birth (those pics to come soon), but glad that we live so close that we could easily go up for a visit. Adelyn wasn't quite sure what to make of such a tiny little baby, but she warmed up to her fast enough. While we were there she tried to pet her a couple of times, kiss her, poke her in the mouth, slap her head, and use her face as support when trying not to trip....so hopefully that's not any indication of future relations between them!

Congratulations though Dan & Hillary! She is certainly a special baby to be born to you...and to be born on Valentine's Day AND the Chinese New Year. We are two for two for Holiday grandbabies, which gives Aaron and I something to shoot for for baby number two.

In closing, I just had to share the most awesome recent picture of baby number one. One night I was picking out the inside of some french-type crusty bread for Adelyn to eat with her noodles, but she kept reaching for the crust instead. So I decided to just give it to her to see what she would do with it.

When I turned back around, this is what I saw. And she sat there just like that gumming that crust until it dissolved in her mouth. Oh she is precious.

I wonder if she got the idea flipping through photo albums....

Made for Walking

Jay & Susan and clan, this is for you! I know I promised it weeks ago and I dropped the ball. She started taking a few steps here and there around her birthday, but now she is doing the real deal!! This video is from a couple of weeks ago and it is crazy to see how much better she already is at getting around. The last couple of days I haven't seen her crawl at all, which just means I have to be that much faster myself!!!

I know, I know she is getting so big and we can't believe it!!!

ONE!

December 31, 2008, Adelyn Mei Anderson was born. 8 lbs 14 oz, 20 inches. Here is what she looked like when we brought her home from the hospital:

December 31, 2009 she turned one...not quite sure her current stats since she was too sick for her one-year well visit, but we know she's a cutie! Here she is in her $5 ride at the mall...loving every minute of it.

It's been a busy year for us, but a good year and we are so happy to have her in our family. Those of you who are around here know she has quite a little personality. She is very expressive and lets you know loud and clear what she wants, often times just with her face (I'm sure you can guess what happened to this crown right after the picture was taken).

She has been busy adding vocab (and nodding) to her expressions and can say: dada, momma, bye-bye, hi, water, cracker, banana, cheese, hot, dog, go, outside, up, down, sock, and book (my personal favorite). Reading is by far her favorite pasttime, but I think dancing to the ringtones on my phone is a close second. She loves music so much that she even dances to the songs that we sing for her and has recently added headbanging to her repetoire of moves!

She is still working on the walking thing, but is getting braver and braver and now takes up to five or so steps at a time. Here she is blowing out her candles, well, Jadyn blowing out her candles is more like it!

I made carrot cake cupcakes for Adelyn since that is the Baria family favorite and I figured I should indoctrinate her early on. Sadly, I think she would have been a lot happier with the traditional chocolate, as she didn't even finish one little cupcake!!

She is indeed a big fan of chocolate, but her favorite food is definitely bananas. She isn't digging cow's milk so far and last night we discovered she has a love of tofu, so maybe she IS half Chinese after all! Pretty much she just loves whatever we are eating, and wants to be just like us--she even cried and cried to have her own chopsticks to eat. She is also still working on the teeth though and finally almost has four.

Thanks to all those who helped us celebrate...including those who helped us celebrate from a distance. And thanks to all who have helped us out along the adventures...with advice, babysitting, friendship, support, praising her genius and cuteness...it all contributes to our happy standard of living. :)

It [was] the Holiday Season

In case anyone is still interested in Christmas news, since I've yet to blog ours, here you go. Obviously we were pretty excited because this was Adelyn's first Christmas and she was actually old enough to enjoy it, unlike what her first Christmas would have been if she had come on her due date last year.

It wasn't the most relaxing Christmas...Aaron's brother flew into town from Utah on Christmas Eve so we came up with a bit of a crazy schedule between families that involved a lot of driving and a lot of fun.

Christmas Eve we had an early dinner with my parents (who were nice enough to accomdate our crazy plan), during which Jenn showcased her yet again triumphant wrapping. This year instead of tags she used our pictures to identify what was for who, and instead of traditional ribbon, red feather boas...what will she come up with next!



Then we headed straight to the airport to get Seth and then headed to spend the night at Aaron's sister Hillary and her husband Dan's new house. We had too many munchies and too many laughs and stayed up too late to even remember it all. With no little kids around, we slept in and opened gifts at our leisure. Here is Adelyn Christmas morning getting ready for the excitement.



Then we had a yummy yummy brunch, more good times, and headed back down to my parents to open gifts and have Christmas dinner and play more games with them. Every year I am always touched by everyone's generosity and kindness. I love my family and I love my in-laws. And in a random side note, I love our church ward too...I coordinated our Adopt-A-Family this year and was seriously amazed...our living room and dining room were filled with gifts that people had gotten for those in need this year.

I love the Christmas season...and know that the "Spirt of Christmas" that people attribute to the immense love and giving that always happens this time of year is because of Christ and the love that He has for each of us (whether others around attribute that to Him or not). I hope as Christians we can work hard for our nation to hold on to that.

When you see a little face like that how can you not feel the love God has for all of us?!?! Love you!

Cousins, Turkeys, and Trees, Oh My!

We set a record and headed out for our third road trip to Idaho this year in honor of the passing of Aaron's grandma and of course the Thanksgiving holiday. The road trip was very different with an almost toddler than a little baby lump, but thanks to our friends, The Porters and the Baby Einstein division of Disney, we all made it there in one piece!

We thought we would be bored while Aaron's fam was in school, but we had a fun little trip to Idaho Falls one day to visit some friends and some fam there. Little did I know Idaho Falls has a CAFE RIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you Kim for making it possible. Here is her daughter sharing some quesadillas with Adelyn. So cute, and of course so tasty. We also found out they have one in Twin Falls now...yes, trips to Idaho just got that much better! :)



Now here is the babe proudly showing off her Thanksgiving feast. We had such a great day with all of Aaron's Stoker Family. Brooklyn quickly became Adelyn's favorite because she was the one most willing to get up and walk around and around and around the house with her. Adelyn is STILL missing her terribly.



Our last day there we had a fun little adventure with everyone and headed up to the mountains in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We drove an hour and a half to get there and tromped around in the snow (Adelyn stayed in the car with grandpa) to find it.



Can we say it is a far cry from the Washington tree farm experience of driving five minutes from our house, getting out of the car, and being surrounded by perfect trees. The first was definitely a better adventure, but Adelyn LOVED them both.

I'm sure she wondered what the heck we were doing bringing a live tree into our house. She still stares at it in wonder and doesn't really want to touch it. That is a good thing of course....don't need all those ornaments strewn about!

Anyway, hope you had a good Thanksgiving too. If you want a few more pics, I'll post them on facebook for ya!

Maybe we are Reading Rainbow After All!

This is Adelyn's favorite thing to do lately. For those of you who aren't related, you might find the video dull, but I of course could watch it over and over...and watch the live version of course. Who knew how entertaining flipping pates could be. Yes, the book is upside down. That's why it's awesome!