Lots of Fun at Our House!!

This morning, Adrianna had 8 friends over for a playdate and we all had a great time hanging out and playing together. Thanks for everyone coming over and helping to make our day more enjoyable and go by faster. We tried to get some pics of everyone together on the sofa...this is what we came up with...although I am sure Mandy's pics look much better :). Eight almost 2 year olds sitting on the sofa looking at the camera all at the same time...equals almost impossible...

Sandbox fun in February !!!

Today, we went to Little Gym...just like every Thursday and of course Adrianna had a great time. They did the air track today...which she really loves and didn't want it to end.
After Adrianna's nap, we took advantage of the nicer weather today and went outside for a while. She played in her sandbox and had a blast...it was as if she had never played in sand before...she didn't want to come inside. We can't wait to add outdoor fun to our daily adventures soon.

Of course, on the way inside she had to stop and swing for a while too. We are ready for summer to come...it gives us so many more options of stuff to do and it makes the day more adventurous as well.

Piano

Today, Adrianna had her two younger friends over for a playdate at our house. She was much nicer this week then last and did well with sharing her toys....although she still did get a little upset about some of her favorite toys :).

Tonight, after bath Adrianna took sometime to play her piano. Pappy and "Mummom" got her a mini baby grand piano for Christmas and she just loves it. We have been keeping it in her room right now since it is a very nice piano and I want to watch her closely when she plays with it so she doesn't destory it. Adrianna loves music so of course the piano is one of her favorite toys....

Painting Fun!!!

Today, Adrianna and I did our grocery shopping both at Sams Club and Martins and tried to get a bunch done around the house too. Otherwise, just hanging out....
After her nap I decided to try out a new activity for her...painting....she had gotten some Tadoodles Paints all the way back at her b-day and I just kept forgetting about them....so today I brought them out and she loved it....we will certainly be adding painting to her daily activities.....

She was a "little" messy....

Friends Over for Dinner

Today, we had our usual Monday morning of storytime and our theme was all about fish today. Adrianna of course always loves storytime...books are her favorite.
Since it ends at 10:30 and that is just too early to go home we are always looking for something to do afterwards...but it is hard to come up with anything creative...at least when we can't play outside or anything. So we went over to Target with some friends and walked around a little while..didn't buy anything though...I had packed a lunch for us...but we decided to go to Chick-Fil-A for lunch so that the kids could play in the play area there. So I used my coupon to get a free sandwich that I had there and then Adrianna ate a very small amount of the lunch that I had brought for her....she just hasn't seemed interested in eating at all today.
Then tonight...one of my friends that I used to teach with came over for dinner with her grandson that she is raising. He is 5 and Adrianna enjoys playing with him. We used to go out to eat about twice a month or so...but now with the economy and such and me not working we haven't been meeting up as often. The last two times that we have gotten together we have eaten dinner here and I have actually enjoyed that more. I don't mind cooking at all...and I would be making dinner for us anyways. I enjoy having someone to eat dinner with besides Adrianna (even though she is fun...it's nice to have adult conversation) since Josh doesn't get home until at least 7:30 most nights...we have already eaten. I used to wait for him to eat dinner but now that I am pregnant I just can't wait that late....:). It is nice to have the time to actually sit down and talk and for the kids to have some toys and stuff to play with and be as loud as they want and we don't have to feel like we are rushed like in a restaurant. I enjoyed having them over tonight and look forward to the next time that we all can get together.

A Visit From Grandma Hykes

On Sunday, we went to SS and Church as normal and Adrianna enjoyed playing in the nursery with all of her friends that she has met there. We were talking so much after church that we didn't end up getting home until after 1 and then Adrianna didn't get her lunch until 2 and then nap until 2:30 or so...it was a later day for her..but it all worked out. Our friend Joel came over this afternoon to take a look at our guest room...which is currently 1 room...but has two entrance doors and two closets...so we are having him put up a wall to make it back into two rooms so that Adrianna can move into her new room and the other side can remain a guest room. He will be coming over in the next month or so to complete the work on the room. I am excited about setting Adrianna's new room up and getting things ready for her baby sister as well. We are hoping to have her moved into her new room and "big girl" bed by her birthday (April 26)...kind of like a birthday present to her.
Sunday evening...Josh's Mom came over to visit and brought along yummy fried chicken and salad for dinner. We had a great dinner together and Adrianna enjoyed her time hanging out with Grandma..playing and reading books. Thanks for dinner and a fun visit Grandma.

Dinner with Family!!

This morning, I got the chance to go to a Stampin' Up party at a friends house from church and had a great time. I love to scrapbook and make cards...I could just buy the whole catalog...but I would have to win the lottery to do that...so I contained myself to just making a small purchase...just have to get a few supplies at a time. We got to make two really cute cards.....



Then tonight...my Grandmother took the family out to dinner at Mountain Gate in Thurmont...we had a nice dinner and of course it is always nice to finally see my Dad's side of the family again...as it seems we only see each other about 2-3 times a year..so sad. We had a great time catching up with everyone...hopefully it will be sooner then later when we get to see everyone again. Thanks Grandma for a great dinner.

MOPS "Get it Done" and Casserole Exchange Fun

Today was our Friday to go to MOPS...we had a "Get it Done" session where us Mom's could work on things that we normally don't get the chance to get done at home..such as writing out cards, menu planning and working on crafts/scrapbooking. I of course brought in all of my scrapbooking stuff to work on...I didn't get too much accomplish..you really need several hours to committ to working on that..but I still had a great time.


We also did a casserole exchange...where each of us brought in a casserole that we put together but didn't bake yet along with recipes to share and we played a "yankee swap" type game with them to see what casserole you would get to take home with you. Basically what happened was we each got a number and then got to choose the casserole that we wanted or we could take someone else's casserole but each casserole could only be "stolen" two times. I did have mine "stolen" once and then I "stole" someone else's once as well. As I stated in my post on Tuesday I took Baked Spaghetti for my casserole and I came home with Enchilada Lasagna...which looks and sounds really yummy...looking forward to trying that tonight for dinner and trying out some of the other recipes as well.
Adrianna always enjoys going to MOPS as well because she gets the chance to hang out and play with many other kids her age in the nursery and has a blast.

On a side note...a couple of weeks ago I thought that I would just ask Adrianna what she wanted to wear for the day...well she loved this idea and picked out her own clothes for the day. Now pretty much everyday she has been enjoying picking out her own clothes....sometimes with a little help:). Today, I knew that it was kind of cold and windy out so I thought pants would be better...well when I opened up the drawer with her pants and shirts in...she shook her head no...closed the drawer and pointed to her closet...she wanted to wear a dress...(I didn't get a chance to take a pic with her in it...before lunch and she got it dirty and i changed her) but she picked her dress with the little poddle dog on it...when she got to MOPS this morning...everyone was telling her how cute she looked and she knew exactly what they were saying...she was so proud and she just strutted around as if saying "everyone look at me...I am so pretty..."

Potty Training Frustrations!!

Yesterday, Adrianna and I pretty much had our normal Thursday routine. We went to Little Gym and of course she had a great time and then packed our lunch to eat with friends.
On another note, I have had Adrianna's potty out for about 4 more months or so now....when she first saw it and tried to use it she would go in the potty more often then she does now. I have pretty much consistently been putting her on the potty every 30 minutes or so when we are at home and she will sit there most of the time for a while without any problems just looking at books or singing..it has seemed like I have been spending so much of my time in the bathroom...(between trying to potty train her and being pregnant at well :). She knows what she needs to do in the potty and when she does use it...probably only about once or twice a week lately she will get rewarded by getting to watch her favorite series of movies "Little Brown Bear"...she doesn't get to watch them anyother time now. Well, yesterday...I sat her on the potty close to bed time and she must of have sat there for a good 30 minutes plus and she did nothing...I put on her diaper...not 3 minutes later I hear her let stinkers...so I take her right back into her potty to see if she will go...no luck her diaper was already wet....so frustrating. I know that she is still pretty young and not quite 2 yet...but I was hoping to have her potty trained before her baby sister arrives...but then people tell me that sometimes they revert back when they have new sibling...so I don't know. I will try and read up on some more suggestions and if anyone has any advice that would be appreciated as well..I know it will happen when she is ready too...in the meantime we will just keep trying.
I will leave you with some pics of Adrianna being a little housekeeper last night:).

Playdate at our House

Today, Adrianna and I didn't go anywhere but she did have one of her younger friends Ailey over for a playdate. They had a fun time playing together in the kitchen, bowling, reading books, riding the horse and wishing it was nice enough to go outside to play. Adrianna wasn't her nicest today....she didn't want Ailey to play with any of her toys at first and everytime Ailey would come near her with something Adrianna would take it away. She hasn't been this greedy before with her toys...hopefully it is only a small phase....she will really have to learn how to share once her new sister arrives.

**I did have some pics from today...but for some reason they downloaded into a different program then normal on my computer and now I can't get them to download here....ugh!!

A Yummy New Recipe!!

Today, Adrianna and I didn't do anything too exciting. We went to Wal-mart this morning to get some groceries and ingredients for a new casserole recipe that I found on-line to use for the casserole exchange on Friday for my MOPS group. I decided to buy enough ingredients to try out the recipe tonight for our dinner. It proved to be very yummy and Adrianna loved it too.



Baked Spaghetti
Ingredients:
1 (16 ounce) package spaghetti
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion chopped
1 (26 ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
5 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups small curd cottage cheese
4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce and seasoned salt; set aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, Parmesan cheese and butter. Drain spaghetti; add to egg mixture and toss to coat.

3. Place half of the spaghetti mixture in a greased 13 x 9 baking dish. Top with half of the cottage cheese, meat sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers. Cover and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover, back 20-25 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

This was very easy to make and is kind of like lasagna but uses spaghetti noodles instead and I thought it tasted better then just regular spaghetti too. I will be making it again Thursday night but not baking it for my MOPS casserole exchange on Friday morning.

Mall fun with Friends

Today we got the chance to go down to Frederick to meet up with my friend Beth who I don't get to see that often...only when schools happen to be closed (she is a teacher). She has two children. Adrianna and I had a great time hanging out with them at the mall...we went to the book store, spent a lot of time looking at all kinds of animals in the pet store, enjoyed throwing coins in the fountain and played at the indoor play area. We just did the fun kids things...didn't even look in any of the stores besides the book store and pet store, but we enjoyed every minute of hanging out together. After they were tired of the mall we headed over to the diner for lunch and then headed home for nap time. Everyone seemed to have a great time together. Looking forward to when we will all be able to meet up again.




Tonight while Adrianna was playing...she colored on the kitchen floor...I don't know how I missed seeing her do that...so I had her try and use a wet cloth to clean up the mess...these were the results...

A Wonderful Valentine Weekend

Josh and I were able to get away for a little overnight Valentine getaway. We missed Adrianna a lot but really enjoyed our time together as well. I know that our alone times will be even less when our new little baby girl arrives in June....so we took advantage of getting out this weekend.
Saturday morning...or really it was closer to the afternoon (we took advantage of sleeping in some too :). Josh made me a really yummy and festive Valentine breakfast. It consisted of Heart Shaped French Toast with I love You written on it in icing and heart shaped scrambled eggs...so yummy and thoughtful:).


We left on Saturday afternoon to head down to the Inner Harbor for the night...we spent the night at a really nice Bed and Breakfast in the area, went to the comedy club and enjoyed dinner on Valentine's Day at our Bed and Breakfast. We spent the day on Sunday walking around the Inner Harbor and checking out the Walter Art Gallery...we must have walked 5 miles...we were so tired afterwards as we are not in as good of shape as we should be. Then we enjoyed dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with the gift card that Josh had won at a golf outing. We will get a chance to go back again sometime as we have $100 still left on the gift card...a very nice prize :).



Adrianna had a great time with my parents and they enjoyed having her at their house and we are grateful for their huge help with her this past weekend. We all had a great time but were happy to have Adrianna back with us on Sunday night.

I feel Lost!!

Today, I have kind of felt lost!! Adrianna and Lucky are at my parents house for the weekend, Josh is at work and I am here at the house alone...feels so strange...and I miss them all but it is nice to have some alone time as well. I did go to church this morning for my MOPS steering team planning meeting. I felt that it was a productive meeting and we were able to get a lot accomplished. I am looking forward to our upcoming meetings/events.
I have spent the rest of the day so far just hanging out and working on getting Adrianna's new bedroom organized and cleaned up for her to hopefully be moved in to by her Birthday in April. It is such a mess in their right now and of course me being the sorta neat freak that I am (I have gotten a little better) it has been driving me crazy.
Josh will be giving me a call on his way home and we will figure out what we are doing tonight. Looking forward to just having some alone time.

Adrianna is spending the Weekend with Pappy and "Mummom"

Yesterday started out much earlier then normal for Adrianna...she woke up about 5:30 and wouldn't go back to sleep...I suspect it was the loud/high winds that woke her up. She was wide awake, happy and ready to go for the day...just as if she was waking up at normal time...I on the other hand was quite tired...but we managed :). She had Little Gym and of course loved every minute of it. She got to try out something new...a stretch rope and a new skill of kicking her legs up in the air and then doing a roll...she really seemed to enjoy that. We then headed over to the Farmer's Market for lunch...although everyone that was there today pretty much packed their lunch...we were hoping they wouldn't kick us out for not buying anything :). Afterwards, we headed back home to put all of Adrianna's weekend stuff and Lucky (our dog) in the car and make the hour drive down to my parents house.
We both got to enjoy sometime together with my family and have a nice dinner together with them too. Adrianna enjoyed reading some books with "Mummom" (that is what she came up with on her own to call my Mom so I guess that will be here name :))




When I left around 8:30 to come home...Adrianna actually wasn't even upset..she used to cry before but now has pretty much gotten over that...I feel much better when she doesn't cry though. I know that she will have a great weekend, be well taken care of and very spoiled :). I will miss her a lot but am looking forward to Josh and my time together as well.

Wish we would have planned a Park Outing!!

On Wednesday's, Adrianna and I get together with Adrianna's godmother and daughter and another friend and her daughter for playdates, shopping, lunch, and whatever we can come up with to occupy our time. This is Adrianna's day to be the "Old lady" of the group as both of the girls are just a little over a year old but she still has a great time playing/hanging out with them.
Today, we met at Toys-R-Us to go shopping and look around...they had a lot of stuff on sale and we had some coupons too. We ended up getting a protable potty seat for Adrianna to use when she is out and about...still working on the potty training :) and my Mom had me buy her a potty for her house. We did see some cute clothes and such but didn't get any...We stopped to look at the cups as well...always trying to find ones that don't leak...it seems like they are fine for a little while but then start leaking.




Then we went over to Chick-Fil-A and had a yummy lunch. Adrianna didn't eat too much...she was more interested in watching the kids in the play area and wanting to join them. After we ate...or should I saw I ate:)....then she got a chance to play. I think today was the most fun that she has ever had playing there....she didn't want to leave and was running around and laughing the whole time.



I couldn't believe how nice the weather was today. I think that spring has arrived already...but won't get my hopes up yet since it is only Feb. I used to love snow days when I was a teacher...but now that I am a stay at home Mom I would rather have nice weather to play outside or at least to get out of the house :). I am hoping to get a chance to take Adrianna down to the park in Williamsport a little later or at least outside for a walk and playing on her swing in the yard. We will see....as it is already 4:15 and she is still sleeping...only so much daylight left. We will make sure to take advantage of the next nice day and go to the park for sure :).
We did get a chance to go and play in the backyard for a little bit. Don't you just love Adrianna's after nap hair do :).



Everyone was worn out tonight....even Snickers :).

Valentine Photo Shoot

Today, we went to the Picture People at the mall, they are more expensive then most places but do the best job with pics. We had a coupon to get a free 8x10 and 12 postcards for $12 so I decided why not...Adrianna did great at first with smiling and looking right at the camera...but that only lasted for about 5 or so minutes and then she didn't want to sit still anymore. We tried to get some pics of her holding a heart or bear but she kept wanting to look at the heart and hold it the wrong way...oh well. She wouldn't stand still long enough for any standing poses and refused to stay on her belly...so all of the poses are pretty much close-ups or sitting down...but we did get some cute ones.

Of course, she was all smiles after the pics were done and we were waiting for them...she did a great job waiting patiently to see her pics. She ate a snack, drew on her doodle pro and read some books.



Afterwards, we had to stop by Auntie Anne's for some pretzel sticks and a drink and she loved it.

Just Another Monday!!

Well, today we went to Storytime at the Library and of course Adrianna enjoyed it. Before we even got into the room she was pulling books off the shelf to look at/read. She likes to go up to the front after Ms. Abagail is done reading a book and grab it and bring it back to her seat to take a closer look at it.
Afterwards, we got some groceries at Sam's Club and of course had to stop at Martin's as well since you can't buy everything in bulk. I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning, doing laundry and getting things booked for our little Valentine Getaway...which I couldn't believe how hard it was to make a reservation to a restaurant. We had won a gift card to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse back in September at a golf outing through Josh's work and hadn't gotten a chance to use it yet...well I must have called 10 different locations and everything was booked for Saturday night...so after I called about 15 other places and nothing being available...teach me not to wait until the last minute next time:)...I decided to just make reservations for Sunday night instead and we can use our gift card and have a very nice free dinner. The gift card is for $250 and from what I hear it will take pretty much all of that to have a nice dinner there...so needless to say we are only going there because of the gift card that we have. So Saturday night we are going to the Baltimore Comedy Factory and staying the night at a Bed and Breakfast in the Inner Harbor area. Adrianna will be spending the weekend with Pappy and Grandma (my parents). I am greatly looking forward to our alone time together as it doesn't happen that often...of course I do miss Adrianna a lot when she isn't here too :).
Adrianna had a fun time playing with her kitchen today....she is starting to use it more and more appropriately. I watched her put some "peas" in the microwave push the buttons and wait a little bit then she took them back out put them on the plate and got a spoon and pretended to eat them. It amazes me how much she figures out and how fast she is growing up.

A Lazy Sunday!!

Today, we went to our Young Married Couples Sunday School class and Church. We are currently going through the Fireproof Study....which we have loved and is a very powerful study and I would challenge all married couples to go through it...Josh and I went to see the Fireproof movie in the theaters when it came out and then Josh reserved a copy of it for me at Christmas, that is probably the first movie that we have bought...besides kids movies...in a few years) so that tells you how much we liked it. We actually sat down to watch a little bit of it today while Adrianna was napping but didn't get to finish the whole thing yet...maybe later on. Check it out at http://www.fireproofyourmarriage.com/.

This afternoon we pretty much just hung out and were lazy....I guess you need that sometimes...although it is hard for me to sit still :). Adrianna fell asleep on our way home from church and didn't wake up until about 5pm...I guess she was really tired and still making up for yesterday...so she missed lunch today but is eating dinner now....I guess she would rather sleep then eat sometimes. We did originally have plans to go down to my parents house to have a belated Birthday celebration for my brother...but that ended up not working out for them so we will be figuring out another time soon. Alright, now that I have bored you with our not so exciting day....I will leave you with a few pics of Adrianna.....