Snow Angel

Rosemary and Paw Paw

We are enjoying a very special visit from Jen's grandparents. Here is Rosemary getting to know her Paw Paw.

More Snow

Here we are out for a brief jaunt in the snow!

As it turns out Cara and Phil's flight was canceled-- they were able to get a flight in on Christmas Day! What a great Christmas present!

Jen and the girls are at her parent's house- Rory will join them on Christmas Eve night.

Looks like we're going to have a white Christmas- whether we want one or not!

Snow Much Fun!

It's snowing! Oh Boy is it snowing! We have been snowed in for most of this week. Fortunately we have good friends and family who have brought us in some supplies in their 4 wheel drives.

Since we are getting over colds and Cecily has a cough we have been barely out in the snow.

However, Cecily went out to check it out and said, "There's snow all over the place! Wipe it off!"

She wanted us to wipe the snow off her boots and to get it off the car.

We had to cancel our church service for tomorrow. Cara and Phil are flying in on Monday. We're hoping that their flights won't be canceled or delayed.

Mary Cess-Mess Love the Adams

Mary and Cess-Mess send their Hugs and Kisses!

Rosemary's First Christmas

Here is our little Rosebug in her Christmas dress and by the Christmas tree. She is a very sweet three month old! I love this age! She is cooing and laughing out loud. Her smiles are so sweet, and she loves to talk.

Santa Baby

Here are the girls visiting our very favorite Santa. He comes to Prudential in Port Orchard where I used to work. This guys is great! And yes his beard is real. (Cecily sometimes calls beards.. weards... which we think is pretty funny... especially when she is talking about Daddy's Weird.)

Cecily wants a fire engine for Christmas. (OK so she technically doesn't know she wants it for Christmas, but that's what she likes these days.

Potty Power!

Cecily has been really into potty training. As I mentioned before she was really interested in the potty so we encouraged her. After I had Rosemary she got pretty into it for a while-- So we got some pull-ups. However, we were still putting her in diapers half the time. After I started to get my feet back underneath me after the surgery we made the full switch to pull-ups. This really lit her fire! She loves all the pretty princesses on her underwear.

If you are looking for a video to inspire your child to potty train- Potty Power definitely did the trick in our house. When Cecily goes potty or if she gets really excited she just throws her arms in the air and shouts! Potty Power! We really liked the video because it has cute songs, and it does a great job explaining things with out getting gross. This video is also truly geared towards toddlers. Several that I watched were more for parents and another was for older kids. All of them talk about being a "big kid." In Potty Power they do a great job defining a big kid... they can do things like jump up and down and sing a little song. However, in some of the other videos they were saying that big kids can tie their shoes and color in the lines (I know a lot of kindergartners who have trouble with those things-- let alone not even two-year-olds).

Cecily does a pretty good job of telling us when she needs to go. However, there are days when she can't be bothered. We aren't really pushing her.

After Christmas we are going to switch to cloth training pants during the day. Wish us luck!

In the pictures below: Miss Independent was really proud when she figured out she could put these underwear on herself. One pair was just not enough!

Here she is ironing in her underwear... just like daddy!

Away in a Manger

So far our favorite thing about Christmas this year has been doing Advent devotions together. Friends of ours did a Jesse Tree ornament craft swap-- which means... each day of the Advent Season there is a Bible reading that takes you through the Bible leading up to Christ's birth. Each Bible reading has a corresponding ornament. There are 28 ornaments for the 28 days leading up to Christmas. Each person made one or two ornaments and made 28 copies of them to share. I had everything ready to make mine... a candle... and then had my appendix out the week I was going to make them. The friends in charge kindly came up with an ornament for us and still gave us a set of ornaments to use. It has been a very fun family tradition. Each Sunday we do the traditional lighting of the candles. Each night we try to do the Advent reading. Between three of Cecily's children's Bibles and various Bible books, we have been able to find most stories from the readings. However, some of the prophecies coming up are going to be harder to come by. However, at this point just being together and putting the ornaments on the little tree are exciting enough for a 21 month and a 3 month old.

Here are a few videos of Cecily singing her favorite song. Here are also a few pictures of our first family advent time.

Cecily's Vote

Around election time Rory and I were often found discussing the election in the car or listening to NPR. Naturally our language sponge picked up on some new names. She started walking around the house saying Obama and Rossi. Apparently she is an independent voter. After a while she started saying McCain and Gregoire too. But her favorite person that she still randomly wants to sing Happy Birthday to is Joe Biden. What can we say, the girl love names. Here is a video of her casting her vote.

What a treat!

Grandma Bear came over while Daddy was at youth group and made Rice Krispe treats with Cessy. Cessy LOVES to help make dinner and we are always looking for projects she can help with in the kitchen. (I have her help with the veggies for dinner a lot, then she samples them while helping and gets that many more veggies). Cessy and Grandma Bear had a really fun time making these treats. And Cecily did her share of sampling. Between several hand fulls of marshmallows and the pure excitement of making them she hardly slept that night. Oh well! She sure had a fun time! Check out the video below!

Thanksgiving 2008

We enjoyed a lovely Turkey Day with Rory's side of the family. The food was wonderful, and the company was a joy. It was a very relaxing day. It was perfect since I was still not fully recovered from my surgery. We sat next to the fire, sipped hot tea and cider and watched Miracle on 34th street. We also enjoyed the parade on Grandpa Cliff's GIANT TV. Thanks to Grandpa Cliff and Grandma Bear for making the day so special. Here is our big girl eating up at the table with everyone! She thought that her new booster that Grandma and Grandpa got her was pretty neat. Rosemary had a fine time being held and oogled over.


Rory's grandparents joined us for dinner. We had a fun time catching up and they seemed to enjoy seeing the girls.

Grandma Bear made Cecily and I matching aprons and Rosemary a matching bib (this is one baby that definitely needs a bib at all times!) They turned out very cute! Thanks Grandma Bear!

Here is a sweet shot of Rosemary.

Saying Good-bye to Jen's Appendix

Every nursing mother of a newborn dreams of having some one-on-one time with her husband. Spending the weekend in the hospital was not what I had in mind.

Saturday, November 8th started out like any other Saturday. I felt totally fine. I thought that my bout of the stomach flu that I had endured the weekend before was in the past. I was moving on and not looking back.
Unfortunately after lunch a terrible pain settled in my middle section. I thought it was just a REALLY BAD case of gas. These things happen...but not usually this bad. I was supposed to go to a baby shower, I stayed home a little longer hoping that this pain would pass...literally. I didn't want to embarrass myself at the party by expelling all this painful gas in a room full of women I didn't know.
So I waited, I took tums, I did sit-ups, I lied on my side. If anything the pain was getting worse. I had really been looking forward to the party, and I didn't want to let my friend down. Plus, I had actually fixed my hair and gotten out of my "mommy uniform." I wasn't going to let painful stomach cramps stop me!
So I went to the shower. The pain grew worse. In fact people were talking to me and I was having a really hard time concentrating on what they were saying. As the pain grew worse, it became clear. I needed to go home! I tried to excuse myself gracefully (I had just gotten there... and I was late at that!)
As I drove home it became painfully clear that I needed to go to the hospital. The weird pain had moved on over to my right side.
Once home I tried to nurse Rosemary but I couldn't even hold her. Rory called my parents who were on their way out for a visit and we decided to meet and trade cars. My parents headed back to our house with the girls, and we headed to the good ol' emergency room. My mom later remarked that she knew it was serious when I left Rosemary with her without discussion. Rosemary at that point had never had a bottle and has only had breast milk. So my parents went home and tried to convince Rosemary to take a bottle (poor little girl gagged it down).

Rory and I made it to the hospital by 6 pm, and I was in surgery some time around 11 pm. In between 6 and 11 I had a CT (Cat Scan) and did a few tests. After multiple people came by and poked me in my appendix and watched me writhe in pain there was a general consensus that I had appendicitis. (I really think they should have gathered the group of nurses, doctors and surgeons together to poke me all at the same time--one poke would have been much better for me!) The CT confirmed this, and that it was still in tact and had not ruptured yet, thankfully. The last thing I remember before the surgery is pumping in the hallway of the ER while on major pain meds and answering questions from the anaesthesiologist about my medical history. Even in the ER I don't get a break from multi-tasking!

It was decided that I should have laproscopic surgery. So I ended up with three little holes rather than one big incision. This allows them to check things out more, and shortens recovery time.

Once out of surgery I tried to pump again, but was unsuccessful- Sitting straight up and leaning forward is not the thing you want to do most after having abdominal surgery (props to all you C-section moms). The next morning my milk overfloweth... when the nurse got me up to use the bathroom I left a trail of milk all the way to the bathroom.

I continued to pump while in the hospital. Unfortunately I had to dump it all. I was on pretty heavy meds at times and antibiotics that Rosemary did not really need to have. Had I been in the hospital longer we would have brought her in.

I came home Monday evening. (Not that I remember a whole lot even at that point. A little drugs go a long way with me... my new motto is ... "Half a percocet will do.")

Fortunately, Rosemary did alright with the bottle while I was gone. She was so relieved to be back to me when we were reunited. I think both of us were pretty relieved. Nursing, however, was a bit tricky since I was so sore. Rory remembered the football hold, and we did that for a few days.

I was able to go home but- Here's the catch. I was not allowed to lift the girls. Rosemary had to be handed to me, and I couldn't lift Cecily at all. Even now a-week-and-a-half later lifting Cecily is painful and exhausting. We relied heavily on our moms and ladies from the church to help us out. (THANK YOU) Even so, it has been hard for me to rest with a newborn needing to eat every few hours. To make things more interesting Cecily came down with a fever. At this point Rory and I decided that maybe we should make it official...we don't sleep anymore...then, any sleep we do get would be a bonus. Anyways, I am glad to report that Cecily is doing much better and so am I.
This morning it was just me and the girls. Cecily is Potty Training so I found myself nursing Rosemary while sitting on the floor of the bathroom singing songs with Cecily. Needless to say, once Cecily went down for her nap... I went in search of the pain meds.

Long story short... I don't have my appendix anymore... we're doing better... keep us in your prayers.

Here is Cecily showing off her band-aids like mommy's. We took pictures of us together with our band-aids, but I don't feel like posting them on the internet... sorry... vanity wins out.