Jam and baby # 2

On Friday Erin and I got together and made strawberry and grape freezer jam. It was so easy and fast. I should have made jam a long time ago! The girls played in the house together while we were getting things ready. They were both so good!

It took us 1 hour to get 3 batches made. The jam turned out so delicious. Addy and I have been having toast and jam every morning since.

I felt the baby move for the first time Friday night. I wasn't for sure if that was what I was feeling because I didn't feel Addy for the longest time. But I have felt the baby move every day since then. They are smaller movements for now. I am 18 weeks and almost half way through the pregnancy! I get to find out what I am having in 2 and a half weeks. I am so excited! It's becoming more real every day that a baby will be joining us. I can't wait to start getting things ready.

Cosley Zoo

These were some of Addy's favorite animals.

On Saturday Christian and I took Addy to Cosley Zoo. The animals there are mostly native to Illinois plus they have a few others. Addy loved seeing all the animals. The whole time we were there she kept saying "animals eat." She didn't like to get very close without one of us holding her. There is a train caboose that had fun learning activities inside, another of her favorites. Some other animals we saw there were: turtle, fox, hawk, owl, snake, coyote, and a white tail deer. We had a great day at the zoo!

Luau and Playgroup

On Labor Day our ward had a luau. It was a lot of fun! They roasted a pig and had other yummy food and treats.They had great entertainment and we enjoyed chatting with our friends. Addy and Chris spent most of the time looking for rocks to throw. ( a new favorite thing) Addy found two acorns and a walnut that her dad let her bring home. She thought these were the best treasures ever!






On Wednesday I got together with a few friends for a play date . We had the kids paint with pudding. It was so fun! Addy has never done this before so she was a little timid at first. She is a dainty painter!
She would stick one finger in the pudding at a time. She watched the other girls eating the pudding and finally decided to try some. She loved the pink pudding the best!
I thought for sure Addy would make a big mess but she she did great. We will have to try this again.





Ellery really got into it! She loved playing in and eating the pudding.





Madelyn painting her picture. She liked eating the chocolate pudding best.






Ella cruised around playing with the toys. She is such a happy content baby!

Madelyn has lots of fun toys for the kids to play with! She was so great to share. Addy loved playing with the doll house the best. I really need to get her one!

Thanks again girls we had lots of fun!

The Last Fling

Each year for Labor Day weekend our suburb has "The Last Fling" to end the summer. It's a fair that last all weekend long. Christian and I took Addy down for a little while yesterday. She loved walking around checking everything out. At first I wasn't going to let Addy go on any of the rides. They look ancient and I just don't trust them. There were a few rides for kids that looked ok. I didn't even know if she would even ride anything without one of us. It was worth a shot. I went and bought a few tickets and we walked over to the first ride.

The first ride was the Big Foot truck. The trucks were all hooked together like a train. Christian
took Addy through the gate and put her in the first truck. She got to be the head driver. I waited on the other end of the fence for the ride to start. I was so nervous for her. The worker pushed the button and the ride began. Addy immediately started spinning the steering wheel. She was concentrating so hard that she didn't look at us the first time around.
I don't know why but I started to cry. My baby is so big and she didn't even need me. She was having so much fun! Every time she passed Christian she would look at him to make sure he was watching her.






After she got out of the truck I asked her if she had fun. She showed me how she was steering and asked if she could go again. I couldn't resist! I went and bought her three more tickets to go on the train. She held her tickets and waited in line with her dad while I got front row to take her picture.








I was a little worried the safety restraint wasn't good enough on this one. But she survived and had a blast. Chris stuck his tongue out at her the first time she passed us, so each time she saw her daddy she would stick her tongue out at him. She was so cute sitting there!






I wanted her to go on one more ride. We chose a car this time. She loves to pretend she is driving so when she got in she was ready to go. I didn't know this before we chose this ride, but as the cars went around they would lift up in the air on one side of the track. I thought for sure this would scare her a little bit. She had a big smile on her face when the car went up and came back down. I am so glad she got to have some fun and experience something new. I loved watching her! It was the best $9 spent in a long time.