Another milestone...First Hair cut!

Adeline had her first hair cut last night. She was very good...daddy entertained her while mommy did all the cutting. She looks SO cute. It is right at her shoulders now. I cut almost 2 inches off of it. It definitely makes her look more like a little girl and her hair looks a lot more healthy. I will post a picture of it soon...

House updates

Well, we have officially been in our house for a month now. We have gotten a LOT accomplished...all boxes are out of the house, curtains and shades are up, Adeline and Evie's rooms are pretty much complete and we are ready to start landscaping the yard. We all LOVE our new home and it really feels like home to us. Adeline has a nice playroom upstairs which she enjoys as well as playing in her room. Susan and Herb have been here twice now to help us with things. Thank goodness for great in-laws!! Lanie, Adam and Jenna came to visit for a few days and my mom came for a day too.
We had a baby shower at Lanie's house last weekend. It was lots of fun and Evie got some nice things. We have less than 7 weeks before little Evie arrives and we have a few more baby items to get. We are all anxious to meet little "E"!

Time to move!

We are excited to say our closing date is this Thursday afternoon...woo hoo! We will be very busy all weekend between getting out of our tiny apartment, getting movers to get our things from storage and emptying our POD unit. Makes me tired just thinking of it. Susan and Herb are coming in to help which will be VERY nice. I know Adeline will love playing with Grammy over the weekend and mommy will be glad to have Grammy keep her busy. I can't wait to see Adeline in the new house with all her toys. Every time we have gone to do something in the house, Adeline laughs and runs all over it. We will all be happy to have our space again! Until next time...

Circus fun and Head, Shoulders, pick your nose...

Adeline was sick Friday night throwing up. We aren't sure what was wrong, she didn't have a fever. It was our first experience with this throwing up and awake all night excitement! She has never gotten sick like that, so it scared her pretty bad when she woke up. Saturday morning she seemed just fine...her happy bubbly self. We had circus tickets for Saturday afternoon and decided to go since she appeared to be fine. Of course, all three of us were sleep deprived by this point, but it was still fun! Adeline didn't want to take her eyes off anything the entire first half. We kept asking her if she wanted to take off her coat and she immediately responded each time with a decisive "No". She loved her snow cone as well as the elephant bowl it came in! We left during the second half due to tiredness...and lack of animals to watch.

Ok, this video is hilarious. Adeline LOVES to sing and do hand motions to songs, etc. Here's head, shoulders with a little bit of a distraction.

Baptist Hospital Tour

Last night, Mike, Adeline and I went to Baptist Hospital for a tour of labor and delivery. Adeline was excited to see there were other children touring with us...she calls all children "bebies" even when they are older than her. One of the little boys, who was at least 3, had a pacifier in his mouth, so she was obsessed with trying to get his "paci". Anyway, after about 35 minutes, we ended right outside the nursery. We got the first taste of what she will be like with baby Evie. first of all, Adeline brought her baby doll with her last night (because it goes most places with us these days!). When she saw the babies in the nursery, her little face lit up. She pointed, knocked on the window, called them "beebbby", showed me and Mike and everyone around us. She did NOT want to leave the nursery window. She did not understand why she couldn't go in there to hold them. We finally ha to wave goodbye, blow them all kisses and kiss them through the window so we could go home. We are glad she loves babies, we just hope she will love it when one comes home to stay with her!! Looks like she will be right by her little sister's side!

So much holiday fun

After two and a half weeks of traveling during the holidays, we are finally back in Nashville. We started our holiday excursion a few days before Christmas, driving from Nashville to Knoxville to see what Santa brought Adeline. We saw grammy and granddaddy, aunt Christy and uncle Chris and cousin Catie. Adeline and Catie had a blast playing together as usual. Santa brought Adeline a train, train table, puzzles, bean bag chair, book rack, Elmo and some more Little People. Her grammy and granddaddy got her another pretty baby doll, baby stroller and the refrigerator for her kitchen. She got even more toys from Chris and Christy!
Then it was off the Richmond where we saw meme, grandpa, aunt Lanie, uncle Adam, cousin Jenna, great aunt Cheryl, great uncle David, great grandma, nanny and granny. There were so many people to see in Richmond and not enough time. Adeline got more baby dolls and baby doll accessories....we are hoping she will practice on her own baby before her little sister arrives! She also got more Elmos and a Barney...who she kisses ALL the time!...a Radio Flyer wagon, and toys toys toys! While we were in Richmond we also were able to see our extended family, which was nice.
After Richmond, we were off to Asheville, NC to the Biltmore and to stay at the Grove Park Inn. Adeline LOVED spending more time with little cousin Jenna. I'm pretty sure she kissed her and called her name "Nenna" every few minutes! The Grove Park Inn was beautiful and a wonderful little get-a-way!
We are now counting down the days until our house is complete. We are looking at a close date of February 4th and we are keeping our fingers crossed that it is not delayed too much after that date. So far we are on schedule! Mike, herb and Chris finished tiling our bathrooms and laundry room last weekend. We have been VERY pleased with the quality of work and are SO ready to get out of our tiny apartment. we should be settled in our house before Adeline's little sister arrives in May. We are very excited to have so many wonderful things happening in our lives right now. We have decided that baby girl #2 will be named Evelyn Sarah Thomas...Evelyn after her great grandmother, who has been so special in Adeline's life so far. We will call her Evie. More to come I'm sure on Evie, but the pregnancy has been going well and she is definitely a STRONG kicker!
We look forward to many visits at our new house soon!

Riding in her new wagon in Richmond

Adeline got this nice wagon from her great aunt Cheryl and great uncle David (who are also her godparents) in Richmond. The fun continues....

Santa comes to Knoxville...

Adeline got this awesome train table and train from Santa (who had to come to Knoxville this year since our house is not yet complete). This clip is her first encounter with the choo choo at Grammy and Granddaddy's house. We can't wait to take it to our new house very soon!

Ho Ho Ho

We are off Monday evening to start our travels to Knoxville, Richmond and Asheville. I thought we would leave you with this little clip. Adeline decorated her first gingerbread house tonight. It was a little decorating, a little eating, but she enjoyed it. We also went to see Santa about a week ago, who she loved from a distance, but not so much on his lap! She knows who he is though and trys to say "Santa", but the "Ho ho ho" is the cutest...so listen carefully. We hope everyone has a great holiday, lost of fun, safe travels and much relaxation.

BANANA

Adeline asking for a 'banana'.

playing with dada

I wasn't going to buy this guitar for Adeline, but when she saw it, she LOVED it....special bonus, it has Elmo on it! I'm glad I got it now though because this is a precious clip of her and 'dada' playing together.

time for laundry

Such a good helper...and we are SO glad we have a front load washer!!

Finding the perfect pumpkin

She thinks her pumpkin is a ball...watch her kick it.

talking in the car

This is from October 2008...

Happy Holidays!

So, we have much to report!
Adeline loved the pumpkin patch and all the animals and fun activities. She was able to go with her grammy and granddaddy which was very special. We went to Chattanooga for halloween then on to Atlanta to visit some friends. Adeline played with her cousin Jenna in Chattanooga. They were VERY cute!
We spent Thanksgiving in Knoxville with the Thomas family. It's always lots of fun there with cousin Catie!! We have a lot to be thankful for; everyone's health is at the top of our list!
We are very happy to announce that we will be adding another little girl to our family in early May. Adeline will be a great big sister, we just know it! Everything is going smooth with the pregnancy thus far....18 weeks and counting!
The house is moving along. We should be in by the end of Jan/early Feb. We can't wait to get settled before baby girl #2 arrives!!
We are off in 2 weeks for our holiday excursions...Knoxville, Richmond and Asheville...back to Knoxville, then finally home in Nashville. It will be nice to see family and friends, but makes me tired just thinking of the travel!
Miss Adeline is as sweet as she can be. She is 15 1/2 months now and starting to put 2 words together. She often says one word and signs another or does both. She loves to 'help' mommy and daddy do dishes, put the dogs to bed, laundry, etc. She goes to school 3 days a week and has fun with her friends. She is enrolled in a special music class at school (per dada's request!) and I hear she is the STAR!
I am posting a few videos of Adeline in action for all our long distance family and friends. Enjoy!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Late on this update...

Sorry for the delay on this update. We have been SO very busy moving, building our house, etc. that I never told everyone about Adeline's helmet appointment. She is officially out of her helmet!! We are very excited as we know she is too! it was a long 6 months, but definitely worth it. We would do it again if needed. She has a beautiful head with a perfectly symmetrical face.

Adeline is more fun every day. She is walking and talking all over the place. It's so much fun to watch her. She is very good at reading books and pointing to animals. She is also very good at following one step directions (what can I say, her mommy is a speech pathologist!). What did you expect? Every day is "therapy"...haha.

She enjoyed her day at the zoo last weekend. I think she would have stayed all day if we had let her. This weekend we are off to the pumpkin patch with her grandparents. I'm sure she will have a blast there as well.

After a long, long year of dr and hospital visits...

we are finally seeing the light today! Adeline went in for her electrophysiology study on her heart this morning and we got GREAT news, the best we could have gotten!! She has 'outgrown' her arrhythmia. her cardiologist could not provoke her heart into the fast rhythm, nor did he see any signs of the arrhythmia. You have NO idea what great news this is to our family!! Adeline can finally be medicine free.
She is now sleeping from the sedation medicine and IV they gave her earlier, but we are home and all is good! She will go back to see her cardiologist one more time in 2 to 3 months for a check up and to be sure there haven't been any more problems. she will no longer be on her meds and we will still monitor her closely for the next few months, after that, we should feel confident that she has a 'normal' heart.
This time last year, we were still in the hospital praying that her meds could be fixed and she would be better. We have had so many people praying for Adeline and our family since then...more people than we even know! The Thomas family wants to thank EVERYONE who sent prayers our way for our precious angel and who put her on their prayer list, etc. It has definitely been a long year, but it was worth every hospital and dr visit to come to this day. What a beautiful day for Miss Adeline!

So far, so good...

Adeline has been off her meds since Thursday night. We have her sleeping with us so I can check her heart a few times during the night. She has been doing fantastic so far! She went to preschool as usual yesterday and her teachers made sure to check her throughout the day too. We go the the hospital Thursday morning, so just a day and a half left to go!
Adeline is getting 2 big teeth! She is SO BIG! She is doing great in her new class at school too. Her teachers say that she LOVES circle time and always participates in singing and signing. She loves being in the big girl room!

WHAT A YEAR!

Adeline was born a little over a year ago. It is SO hard to believe. She has changed every day and is now such a beautiful (we know she gets that from her mama), happy little girl. Everything to her is fun...well except sitting in the car by herself and baths, but other than that, she is the happiest little girl we have ever seen...and SO social. She doesn't let anyone come in her view without saying "hi" or "bye bye" and everyone is a sucker for those beautiful blue eyes (ok, so I can't take the credit for those!). Mike and I feel that our lives are more complete with her a part of us and love her more with each passing second!
So it's really hard for us to look back a year ago, last labor day, when we made that frantic, desperate, scared to death dash to Vanderbilt Children's, little Adeline was only 11 days old. That day and the next few weeks in the hospital are however, always in the back of our minds. Over the past year, we have given her heart medicine every day, every 8 hours. It has become part of our daily routines and the funny thing is Adeline LOVES her syringes! So it is fitting that this is the week we will stop her meds for 5 days. We will then go back to Children's (hopefully not in a panic) for her electrophysiology study in September 11th. If all goes well, she will stay off her meds for good...that is if she has "outgrown" her arrhythmia. We feel very optimistic about this since she has done fantastic since last September and has even been taken off one of her meds since April. We are please asking for your thoughts and prayers to head our way for the next 2 weeks. Pray for little Adeline to be able to be med free and also pray that the 5 days we are at home without it, she is fine as well. Those will be very scary days for us as we closely monitor that precious little heart!
Now on a health check up note...Adeline went to the pediatrician last week. She is doing fantastic! The little squirt is only 16 pounds which puts her in the less than 3rd percentile in weight! I guess I shouldn't complain though since she isn't walking yet...duh, who could walk in a barely size 2 shoe anyway! She will be walking any day though...if she would just let go of my hand. She has 6 teeth and is getting one in the back too. She LOVES to sign and learns news signs every day. Every animal is "woof", but I guess that's what happens when you live with 2 dogs. She is starting to talk also. Her new favorite thing is to throw something on the ground and say "uh oh".
She will be moving up to the "inchworm" classroom at her preschool this week. She skipped a class which will put her in the big kid class...so not only is she small to start with, she will be the youngest. Oh well, I'm confident she can hold her own!
There will be more to come in the next few weeks.
Be thinking of us...

Adeline turned ONE on Saturday August 23, 2008. We had quite the party of over 50 guests at Grammy and Granddaddy's house in Knoxville. She enjoyed ALL of her gifts as dada opened them! She wasn't quite sure about the cake at first, but she definitely got the hang of it. Thank you to all who came to the party to celebrate with us and to everyone who couldn't be there but called...she is truly loved around the world!! A special thank you to Grammy and Granddaddy again for hosting!

Sand is fun!

Adeline's first experience at the beach and in the sand. She LOVED the sand, but not the water unless mommy was holding her. Adeline's cousin Jenna, aunt Lanie, uncle Adam, Meme, grandpa, great grandma and great aunt Cheryl were all there to enjoy the sun with us. We had a relaxing week even though Adeline was cutting 4 teeth!!!!

First time walking in the sand

It's been a while...

since the last post. The Thomas family has been busy as usual! We put our house on the market this summer and it sold within a week...we were in shock to say the least! So we packed up as quickly as possible and out we were. We are building, but have not broken ground yet...so for now we are renting a house. We are super excited to be in our house in a few months. Adeline doesn't know it yet, but she will have lots of space to run around inside and out!! Luckily she is an easy going little girl and doesn't mind us being in different places. I have also started a new job which is VERY different than Vanderbilt...very laid back. I'm working just 2 days a week right now and enjoying it so far. Mike is also getting ready to "start something new". He is once again being promoted in his company. We are excited about that as well!

Adeline is SO BIG!

Today was our 4 week helmet check up. Everything is going GREAT! Her dr told us we could stop her helmet therapy now if we really wanted to, but he would like to see her in it a few more weeks. So since we've already paid a fortune for the darn thing, we decided to stick it out a little longer. Fortunately, it has been a very mild May here in Nashville!
Since our cardiology check up last month, we have continued to monitor Adeline's heart to check for any issues. She hasn't had any problems since she has been off one of her meds. Thanks for the continued thoughts and prayers.
She continues to be a small little squirt...petite we like to say! She will be 9 months next weekend and is SUCH a joy. She now waves at everybody and everything...the dogs, mommy, daddy, people when we are out, the TV, basically whatever crosses her path. Adeline loves to sing and play patty cake and now knows how to dance...well not quite like her mommy did in college (thank goodness!) No, she is not up on bars, Aunt Torrey!
We keep thinking any day she will crawl, but not yet. Adeline does however love to stand and hold on to things...SO BIG!
Love to all.

Dr updates

Here's the updates on Adeline's dr. visits...
She is doing fantastic with her helmet and we expect her to be done with it very soon. we go back for another check up at the end of May. She went to the cardiologist last week as well. He decided to take her totally off of one of her meds. So far, she has been doing great! She is now only on her beta blocker meds every 8 hours. we go back to the cardiologist again in September; at that point, he will give us a tapering schedule to get her med free. Once Adeline is off her meds, we will go in for the electrophysiology study. If all goes well and he is not able to provoke her heart into the abnormal fast rhythm, we will assume she has outgrown her arrhythmia. If he is able to provoke her heart, she will stay on her beta blocker meds until she is old enough to have the catheter surgery (around 4 years old).
Adeline continues to eat well and wants to eat whatever mommy and daddy are having. She LOVES her preschool and her friends there...except the boy who puts his fingers in her helmet! She has had 2 ear infections since she started preschool, but that's just part of sharing germs!
She has recently started clapping to patty cake and imitating some baby signs and is 'thinking' about crawling. she is such a joy in our lives!

Patty Cake is fun!

Adeline LOVES to hear and watch us sing patty cake. Today I caught her first attempt at clapping with me on video!

Fun with sounds

Adeline loves this game of making sounds. I think she would do it all day!

More milestones...

Have you ever loved someone so much that it hurts deep to your core when they are gone? I'm not talking about 'missing' someone, I'm talking about a connection and true heartache and emptiness when you are apart. Well I felt that for the first time last week when Adeline spent spring break at her grammy and granddaddy's house in Knoxville. She had a great time and Mike and I were glad she was able to spend time with them, but oh my, was it hard! Our house was oddly quiet...no "dadadada", "bababa", "tatata", "aaahhhh", or screaming in delight when the dogs enter the room...oh not to mention the HUGE grin when mommy or daddy come into her sight. Mike and I were alone for a week for the first time since Adeline's birth in August. We did actually go out for St. Patrick's Day, which was fun, but other than that, we talked about our sweet little girl and watched her videos all week!
While Adeline was at grammy and granddaddy's, she saw her cousin Catie Beth who she LOVES (and Catie loves her just as much if not more!), she went to an Easter egg hunt, had pictures made with Catie AND cut TWO teeth!! Sorry about that grammy! Yes, Adeline has 2 little razor sharp bottom teeth. They are the cutest things and she wants to try them out on everything, so FYI, don't put your finger in there.
She had a great first Easter. Mike and I met her in Knoxville with his parents and went to church and lunch with her granddaddy's family. She was supposed to start preschool Monday morning, but had a green snotty nose (yuck!), so I stayed home with her. She started preschool on Wed morning. I was dreading it, because Mike was out of town and I didn't want to leave her, but she was immediately excited when we walked in. She wanted me to put her down to play with the friends in the floor and when I did, she smiled and laughed. It made me feel so good to see her laughing. For the rest of the day, I visualized her laughing as I left. Her teacher said she had a great day, but did not like it when her friends would crawl away from her. So I'm betting that she will be crawling in no time!
We went to the helmet Dr Monday while I was off work. He said she is doing great. We will go back in 4 weeks for another check up. We will need some thoughts and prayers that week (April 21st and 22nd). We go to the helmet dr then her cardiologist the next day. She may come off all her heart meds then!!
More to come soon...

Laughing and talking, what fun!

Eventful Week

Adeline had a very busy week last week. She went to the helmet Dr, had her 6 month pictures and went to the pediatrician for her 6 month check-up.

She is doing fabulous in her helmet! It doesn't seem to bother her a bit. She is still the happiest baby I've seen and I'm even growing to think it's kind of cute. The dr said her head was growing on the left where we want it to round out. Mike and I also feel like we can tell a difference. We go back again in a few weeks for a follow-up and adjustment.

Adeline was the cutest little thing during her 6 month pictures. She thought it was hilarious and laughed the whole time we were there. We go to look at them tomorrow so I hope they turned out well. I wish you all could have seen her. She is such a ham when she sees a camera!

Her pediatrician appointment went well too. Her Dr said she looked great! She weighs 14 pounds exactly. She has started on a few table foods this week too and of course, she loves everything she has tried!

Adeline will start in her preschool the Monday after Easter. Mommy started back to work today and daddy stayed at home for a change...kudos to daddy for a job well done! I think we are actually Dr appt free for the next 2 weeks! Adeline will go back to the cardiologist in April. We expect it to be a big appointment. So far she has done perfect on her reduced med dosage. She may come totally off her meds in April...keep your fingers crossed!

Babbling at 6 months

Yes, Adeline has mastered "dadadada". She is very proud of it too! She is now also saying "nananana" and "yayayaya", but still no "mama". It's amazing how fast it happened. She literally woke up one morning and started with the "dada" and that's all she wants to do now.

Laughing with Daddy

What a sweet little laugh!

Adeline's baptism

Adeline was baptized in the Episcopal church on Sunday February 3rd. She was a little angel in church (which is not typical)...she is usually 'talking'! It was a very nice service and Adeline had her godparents, grandparents, aunt, uncle and niece in attendence. It was a very special day! Adeline got her helmet the next day. She has done awesome in it so far this week. She is sleeping well in it and doesn't seem to mind it...I'm pretty sure I dislike it a lot more than she does. As ugly as I think it is, she sure is cute in it! We will go back in 2 weeks for a check up, then again 2 weeks after that. Once the first month is over, we will go in every 4 weeks for adjustments. We are hoping to have it off in 4 months, although it could be a little longer.
Adeline is a little 'rolling baby' these days. She wants to roll over ALL THE TIME. It's pretty cute. She is enjoying being able to mover herself around. We will go to the pediatrician at the end of this month for her 6 month check up...more to come. Be looking for some updated pictures of the baptism soon.

Update on dr visits

Since our last post, Adeline has been to the cardiologist, had a CT scan and been to the Orthotist. Her cardiology report was better than we expected. Her cardiologist was VERY please with her progress. He decided to start decreasing her meds slowly to see how she reacts. So far she has done fine with the new dosage. In a week and a half we will decrease her meds again, so be thinking of us!
Adeline's CT scan showed normal brain growth/development with all sutures still open (which is what we expected) a normal 4 month old baby brain! We were then referred to the dr who will fit her for the helmet to fit her flat spot. That dr sent us to the company in Nashville who actually makes the helmet. Adeline was casted/molded for her helmet yesterday by the orthotist. She did great during the casting process and only started to cry at the end. She will receive her helmet on Feb 4th. She will wear it 23 hours a day for about 4 months. Oh and for all of you who know me and pink...well we got a pink helmet for miss priss!
Adeline turned 5 months old yesterday. She is getting bigger by the day. She loves to play with her toys now and reach for things...mommy's hair, toys, whatever is in her reach!
Adeline will be baptized on Sunday Feb 3rd, so we will post more at that time.

Fun with food!