Go Vikes!

I grew up a Vikings fan, so I know that heartache and disappointment comes with the territory. I know not to get too excited about how well they are doing, especially during playoffs. The better they are, the greater the frustration is when they lose. However, Adelyn is very young and hasn't experienced any true Viking's heartache yet, so she is really excited about their chances, was very happy with today's win and is looking forward to next week's game. I'm not sure how well she'll handle the inevitable disappointment that lies ahead of her.

Good Morning!

As I've mentioned before my day is basically a cycle of feed, burp, play, change, sleep and repeat (with several spit-ups in between every step). And we repeat and repeat this cycle about 7 times a day. It definitely can wear on you at times doing the same things over and over, but there is one part of the day that I always look forward to no matter how many times I do it and it makes me smile every single time. It is taking Adelyn out of her swaddle after naps and her night-time sleep. Mind you, Adelyn is not the best sleeper (she certainly doesn't take after her mother). She usually only sleeps for about 30 minutes per nap during the day and typically not more than 4 hours between feedings at night, but every time I take her out of the swaddle she gives me look and a stretch that would have you think she had been asleep for days trapped in the swaddle. It starts with one arm shooting up, immediately followed by the other and then a huge stretch arching her back and basically her entire body. She does this every time with the same intensity whether she was asleep for 5 minutes or 5 hours and I just love it. Here is my attempt at capturing her trademark maneuver over the past 2 days.

It always starts with her snug in her swaddle, both arms down at her sides.

One arm and then the other.

The long drawn out back arch.

The occasional "am I really ready to be up?" pause.

I just don't know if I can do this again.

OK, I'm up and I'm happy. Good morning!

I've Got Nothin'

I have started and deleted 3 different posts today. I just can't seem to make my words make any sense. Blame it on lack of sleep, blame it on the rain, blame it on a bad day, but I just can't seem to pull it together. (I have even had to retype these 3 sentences several times). But I do have some cute pictures with absolutely no story behind them so that's what I'm going with.

Babies!

Before having Adelyn several other parents recommended that I join a mom's group, I was a little apprehensive about it at first but now am so glad that I did. I meet once a week with about 9 other moms & babies & we just talk about everything. Our highs, our lows, our firsts, our frustrations and funny stories. I just love it. Adelyn is the "baby" of the group but all of the babies are within a few weeks of each other. It has been so fun watching them change over the past several weeks. Here are a couple pics of some of the babies hanging out, Addy happened to be sleeping through this photo shoot.

The Bald and The Beautiful

As soon as Adelyn was born we were trying to figure out who she looked more like, Brian or I. She didn't have red hair and she didn't have any obvious characteristics of either one of us. But right away one of the nurses commented that she had the same haircut as her Dad. Ever since there has been an endless supply of hair jokes comparing Brian to Adelyn. However, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words and I have to thank Brian's sister Heather for taking this one.

60 minutes

Before I write this, I have to warn you if you don't think the topic of dirty diapers is very funny this isn't the post for you. Also, I will have to add this to the list of things to apologize to Adelyn for when she gets older.
On Tuesday, just a few hours before it was time for us to fly out we were having a leisure afternoon at my Dad's. I had just changed Addy's diaper and remarked how it had been 6 days since she had had a dirty diaper ("dirty" not "wet"). This started a whole conversation about how long is typical for a baby to go, if this was normal, etc. I wasn't too concerned since I knew of a few other babies who had gone up to a week or 10 days, but it was shocking to everyone else that she had gone that long. I was willing to wait a few more days before worrying.
Then just one hour before we needed to leave for the airport I was feeding Adelyn and could tell she was working on something. I exclaimed "Addy is finally pooping!" A few minutes later I realized she was leaking through her outfit onto me. I rushed downstairs to get her out of her clothes and diaper and couldn't believe what followed. Always the good father, Brian followed me down to give me a hand. He took off her pants and couldn't believe his eyes when he got to the diaper. It literally could not hold one more thing. She was leaking out on both sides of her legs, her back and her stomach. It was disgusting. We were paralyzed for second trying to figure out what to do. Then we jumped into action and it was like we were at the scene of a crime. Brian removed his shirt to prevent contamination and then requested the wipes, I quickly handed them over. Instantly it was clear the wipes were no match for this job. He needed towels. I ran upstairs and found some old towels and handed them over. After he used them we determined they needed to be thrown away immediately. We tackled the diaper but there was still a onesie on her that was beyond salvaging. With serious consideration Brian then asked for a scissor. I ran to get one. I knew we had no choice. Then very carefully, Brian removed the onesie by cutting it off. We knew trying to get it over her head would only lead to more complications. After removing all of her clothes and wiping her with wipes there was still evidence of the crime everywhere. She needed a bath. We folded her up on the changing pad and carried her upstairs to the kitchen sink. This baby was filthy from head to toe and needed some serious cleaning. Without missing a beat, Brian gave her a bath in the sink and cleaned her off as best he could. She didn't even protest, she knew it needed to be done.
When it was all said and done we were able to finish her feeding, get her in new clothes, get me in new clothes, finish packing up and still get out the door in time to get to the airport. The whole way there we just kept discussing what we would have done if she had just waited just one hour more and all of this happened somewhere other than my Dad's. Even the next day Brian and I kept shaking our heads asking "what would we have done if this had happened on the plane?" I shudder to even think about having to try and pull that off in an airplane bathroom. Thank God for those 60 minutes.

Home Sweet Home

Wow. We just returned from a whirlwind of a trip back to the midwest. It was a fabulous trip filled with many firsts for Adelyn. Her first plane ride, first time in the snow, first time meeting her Great-Grandma Ruby and her new cousin Isabelle and so many others. We figured that on this trip Adelyn met about 40 new people and was held by just about every one of them. It was so wonderful to see so many of our friends and family and to have them all meet Adelyn. We really are lucky to have such wonderful families and friends. Addy was real trooper throughout the whole trip which was just non-stop. Here are just a few of my favorite moments from "the best Christmas ever."


Papa spending time with Addy.



Gramma reading Frosty the Snowman to Adelyn.


Tad and I with our daughters.


Great-Grandma Ruby with her youngest great-grandchildren.


Adelyn hanging out with her cousin Jack.


A group photo at the Everts. I wonder where Adelyn gets her height from?