The Bangerts

Valentines Celebration

2012-02-19T22:09:00.001-06:00

Adelyn had a Valentine party at daycare. So Mommy had fun putting together little valentines for Adelyn’s daycare friends and teachers. For her friends I got the toddler size of apple juice boxes, put them in Valentine bags from the dollar section at Target, and finished them off with a printable tag I found on pinterest with a quote on the back that said “Valentine you’re the apple of of me eye”!

For Adelyn’s teachers at daycare I made pretzel buttons. I’ve made these for Christmas before, but never thought of doing them for Valentines Day. Another pinterest find! {love that site!}

Back to the gifts…I used old starbucks frap jars, decorated, filled with Valentine pretzel buttons, and finished with a little stamped tag! Doing these made me excited for the years when Adelyn will be old enough to help with her Valentines…and other crafts!

After work {and daycare} we celebrated with each other at home! Mommy helped Adelyn open her Valentine cards from friends & family and then she opened her gift from Mommy & Daddy! Of course she was more interested in the noisy tissue paper!

Here’s a video of Adelyn opening her gift! She was WAY more interested in the tissue paper and the gift bag!! It’s a bit long, but if you stick around till about the 2 1/2 minute mark you will see she love the “Party Rock” song and at 3 1/2 minutes she’s working on going #2!

After little miss was all tucked in for the night, Mommy & Daddy celebrated together! Daddy made Mommy spaghetti with meat sauce and surprised her with the newest Twlight movie! We spent the evening snuggled on the couch watching our favorite vampires! ha!

It was a perfect day with the 2 people I love most in the world!! I feel so blessed to have an amazing husband and a beautiful baby girl! Hope everyone had a great Valentines day!!

Current Fav!

2012-02-18T19:43:00.001-06:00

Adelyn’s current favorite toy is this Leap Frog fridge barn toy!

Except she doesn’t leave it on the fridge! She likes to pull it off the fridge!!

And of course chew on it or rub it on the floor (which makes Mama cringe…thank goodness for durable floors!).

Notice the blanket at the bottom of the fridge. We are missing a piece of the fridge and so all of Adelyn’s magnets would end up under the fridge. Enter Daddy’s great idea of the blanket!! Problem solved!

Bath Time

2012-02-15T20:00:00.001-06:00

We recently retired Adelyn’s baby bath tub and let her be in the big tub for baths!

I didn’t think it was possible, but she loves bath time even MORE now!

She loves to get down in the water on her tummy, swim around like a little froggy, and kick her feet! It’s SO cute!!

Seeing how much Adelyn loves the tub makes me excited to take her to the pool this summer!

Independent

2012-02-13T20:45:00.001-06:00

I have a feeling we’re going to have an independent little girl!

She is already VERY interested in grabbing the spoon and trying to feed herself!

“See Mom, if I focus really hard I can do it myself!”

Almost have it…

“More please, Mama”!! Prunes were a bit messy to do this with, but hey it all washes, right?

Our baby girl is growing TOO fast, but we are loving each & every stage!!

Princess Tea Party

2012-02-12T14:37:00.001-06:00

My friend Sara’s little girl Emma turns 3 this month. They celebrated with a princess tea party at a local tea room. Even Snow White came to the party! It took a little bit for Emma to warm up to Snow White, so Sara joined them for the first few pictures.

I love how Emma’s feet are all “perky’! Pretty sure instead of saying “cheese”, they said “princess”!!

Emma’s little sister, Grace, had fun at the party too! Emma is getting another sister in June! Sara and her husband Vahn are going to be one busy family!!

On the menu was tea (pink lemonade) and for an entrée the girls had their choice of chicken nuggets, grilled cheese, or peanut butter & jelly! And no princess tea party is complete with out crown cookies!

Emma had a ball opening all her gifts! It was so fun to see her interact with her friends! And of course her friends were a great “help” opening her gifts!

Adelyn even got her picture with Snow White…but of course she was too busy to look at the camera!

The party was a success and its always fun to see these girls!

Happy 3rd Birthday Emma!

Adelyn’s Seven Month’s Old!

2012-02-07T20:07:00.001-06:00

How did this last month fly by SO fast?!?! I feel like I was just writing her six month post! (wait I was...since I did it SO late!) January 21st Adelyn turned 7 months old. 7 MONTHS!!! How did my baby get this old already??

I feel like I say this every month, but Adelyn is SO fun right now! She loves to play! Her favorite toy is the one that you have to hit a button or turn a knob and something pops up. She's REALLY good at closing them, we're still working on the opening part! And of course Sophie & her taggie blanket have been a favorites for a long time. She still loves to gnaw on Sophie!

She is so close to crawling. She has been army crawling for about 6 weeks now. The week of January 9th she started getting up on her hands & knees and rocking, but then would go back to her tummy and arm crawl! And she's SO fast at army crawling...I just can't get over it! I'll be down in the hall and she's right behind me in no time at all!

The first two weeks in January she was teething pretty good! She was gnawing on everything, her gums were swollen, and a drooling machine! She took a 3 hour nap Mon, Tuesday, & Wednesday one week and then still slept all night. Finally the week before she turned 7 months old her top 2 teeth made their appearance! Even though Adelyn has been teething she is still her happy self, just sleepy! She started making this new face this month where she smiles (showing her teeth), squints her eyes, and wrinkles her nose, kinda like a cheesy smile! It SO cute!! Her other new face she makes is the fish lips, but they're off center! It's SO cute!!

Right after she turned 6 months old we celebrated her first Christmas. She liked the rip the paper on her gifts, but then would just want to eat the wrapping! Unfortunately the poor girl got sick on Christmas. Christmas day through Thursday she was running 102+ temp and 2 of those days she was on antibiotics. Another ear infection. She had a rough week. Poor girl!! The doctor said if she gets ear infection again we will have to talk tubes.

We were off work for a few weeks over Christmas. During this time we started solid foods with Adelyn. Her first try was homemade apple sauce. Every time she took a bite she made a sour face, but continued to eat it. Then a few days later we tried sweet potatoes and she did the same thing! We laughed so much at our sweet baby's silly's faces!! Eventually she stopped making the face when she was eating, but solid foods went on hold the week she was sick. I have made almost all her food except carrots & pears. She's had apples, sweet potatoes, pears, prunes, peas, bananas, and carrots. She's also had puffs & the Gerber yogurt melts. We will continue to introduce new foods as well.

Adelyn is consistently eating 5 times a day. I nurse her in the morning and at night before bed. And then she has 3 bottles of breastmilk at daycare. She gets either cereal or oatmeal in the morning with a fruit and then at night we usually give her a vegetable and a fruit. I think this month we will add the 3rd meal to her day.
Adelyn finished wearing size 2 diapers this month and I just bought our first box of size 3's for when our stock of 2's run out. And she's wearing size 3-6 mo, 6-9mo, and some 6-12 mo clothes. We're close to retiring those 3-6 mo clothes!

*SEVEN MONTH STATS*
weight – aprox. 18lbs
length – didn’t measure her
eating – 100% nursing or breastmilk from a bottle, cereal, & solids
clothes - 3-6 mo, 6-9 mo, and 6-12 mo
diapers - size 2

Watch me grow!

Be Mine

2012-02-06T07:31:00.001-06:00

I couldn’t wait to get some cute pictures of my little Valentine.

This little love bug had other ideas though!

She has other things to check out…

…and chew on! Even though these aren’t the “perfect posed” pictures, I still love em!

They show my sweet girl and how she is these days…busy!

Notice in this last picture she’s up on all fours. Still no crawling, just rocking on all fours or army crawling!

Hello Lily!

2012-02-03T17:40:00.001-06:00

Last week we had plans to visit my sister and BIL in Omaha over the weekend. They had just welcomed their sweet little girl on January 9th and we wanted to visit!

Well not only did we visit over the weekend, but we got a bonus day! Friday was a snow day, the college where both Kyle & I work closed due to bad weather. Well the weather was mainly around our area and north and we had to go south. So within a 1/2 hour we drove out of it and had extra time with the new family of 3!

It was a fairly low key weekend, but that was just ok! we spent time with my BIL’s parents and got all kinds of questions from the new parents! And of course there was plenty of snuggle time with new niece!! It was so fun to see my sister as a Mother now!

Our new roles we have come into have definitely brought us closer!! Who would have ever thought…we fought like cats & dogs when we were younger!

We are already planning another Omaha trip in February. I just know how babies grow so fast and I can’t wait till they come to visit in March!

Goodbye Jackson’s

2012-01-29T20:29:00.001-06:00

Our dear friends, Kim & Steve and their 2 boys, are moving to Kansas. Friday night we took supper over, chatted for awhile, and said our goodbyes! We are SO happy for them because they are going to be close to their family and this is something they’ve wanted for a long time.

But at the same time we’re SO sad!! Kim is such a GREAT friend and I’m going to miss her SO much! I met her through our work 5+ years ago and we hit it off right away! We were originally brought together by all things crafty…you name it…we did it! We even had a table at a few craft shows one year! I don’t think a day went by at work without a call, email, instant message, etc between Kim & me!

Kim has always been an amazing support with my new mommy questions, a great listener when I had frustrations, and I could always count on her to share a laugh (or some mexican food)! I told Kyle the other day that I feel like a kid in elementary who’s best friend is moving away.

Our babies have brought us even closer! Kim & Steve’s youngest, Reece, and Adelyn are only a few short weeks apart and have been in the same room at daycare for the past 4 months. It was so fun to talk about how our kids were going to grow up together and be best buds! And now we will just have to drive a little further to make that happen!

Kim & Steve’s oldest, Garrett, is 2 1/2. It was so fun to watch him and Adelyn interact! He played so well with her. It was SO cute!!

W are going to miss this cute little boy. Every morning when we come into daycare Garrett is in the gym with the other kids and he always runs to greet us and give high 5’s! If Kyle isn’t with us one morning when we drop Adelyn off, Garrett’s first question is “Where Kyle go?”! Such a fun, sweet little boy!

I just have to keep in mind that this isn’t good bye, it’s “see you later”! We will miss you sweet friends!! Can’t wait to come to KS to visit!

Back to the South!

2012-01-27T21:38:00.001-06:00

My Mom & Step Dad went to Texas for 6 weeks before Christmas. In December they came home for the holiday and also another grand-baby’s arrival! Now that those events have settled down and the cold is still hanging around here in Iowa they are going to squeeze in some more time in the sunny south, but not before getting in some more time with the grandkids!

Adelyn loves to watch Hayden! Hayden will slow down for the occasional hug, but for the most part he is too busy to notice Adelyn! But it’s always fun to watch them interact! Hayden will definitely miss Grandma. He is a lucky little boy and gets to see Grandma everyday when she’s home in Iowa!

We know Grandma & Grandpa will enjoy their time as snowbirds, but we will miss them for sure! One of these years we want to go visit them in Texas!!

Adelyn’s 6 Month Pictures

2012-01-25T22:41:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago we had Adelyn’s 6 month pictures taken. It was mid afternoon and she hadn’t had a nap. I knew we were pushing it! We probably only spent about a half hour with the photographer and it was like we had to pull smiles out of my usually smiley baby, so I was nervous how they would turn out. But I was SO happy with the results!! Check em out!

This one is my favorite! I love her sweet grin behind the pearls!

And I can’t help but just smile at this one! I love her big, happy smile!!!

Pure Sweetness.

Can’t forget our favorite team! Go Hawks!!!

This was a last minute outfit I threw together…and the last pictures we took too! She was done after this!

Hope you enjoyed my baby’s 6 month pictures! Now I just need to get them ordered so I can hang them on my wall!!

Welcome Lily!

2012-01-12T23:24:00.001-06:00

Monday January 9th my sister Stef and her husband Geoff welcome their first baby girl, Lily Mae! Stefanie had a scheduled c section becauase little miss Lily was breach. The procedure went well and both Mom & baby are doing well. This picture just brings tears of joy to my eyes. I love the look on my sisters face when she saw her sweet baby for the first time!

She weighed 9lbs, 3 oz and 22 in long. She has a sweet little round face, blonde hair, and is just perfect! Meeting Lily on Monday was so wonderful! She is a very special little girl who many have prayed for. She is truly proof of how amazing& faithful our great God is! Such a miracle, as are all babies!!

The new Mommy & Daddy are completely smitten! I couldn’t be more happy for them. I’m just thrilled that they have now experienced the overwhelming love a parent has for a child! There’s nothing like it! And then there were three!

My other two sisters, Wendi & Mindi, my Grandma and my Dad all piled in my sister's suburban and went to Omaha to greet Stef and meet Lily when she came out of recovery.

There’s nothing quite like sisters and I’m so blessed to have these three in my life (and of course we love our Mama too)!! I was so thankful we could all be together for the day to celebrate Lily’s arrival. Does this pictures look familiar?

6 months ago when Adelyn was born…

…and 16 months ago when Hayden was born!

Lily is so very sweet!! I'm so excited for her and Adelyn to grow up together and be best cousins!! I had a cousin that was 9 months older than me and we were inseparable growing up. She actually lived with us for a time when her little brother had an extended hospital stay, so my Mom called us her “twins”. We still call each other "twin cousins" today! I'm excited for Adelyn & Lily to have that special relationship!

Lastly, I whipped up some cookies to celebrate Lily’s birth-day, some with her name, DOB, initials, or her monogram!

To my sweet niece Lily, I’m so happy you are finally here! I have prayed for you for a long time. You are a very special baby and I know God has amazing things in store for your life. I pray you grow up to be a woman of God with a kind heart! You have two amazing parents who love you very, very much and waited for you for a very long time…be good to them (aka sleep all night!)!!! I love you sweet baby girl! Love, Aunt Darci

Adelyn’s Six Months Old!

2012-01-12T19:28:00.001-06:00

December 21st Adelyn was offically 1/2 a year old!! I cannot believe how fast these past 6 months have gone. I'm pretty sure I'm going to say that every month! It's been amazing watching our baby girl learn & grow!

Adelyn continues to be her happy self!! I love that you can just smile at her and she grins from ear to ear!! She is such an easy baby and we love her to pieces!! When Daddy gets her ready in the morning I love to listen to them talk and play!!

Adelyn is at such a fun age right now! She can sit on her own and is scooting all over the place. Daycare keeps telling us that she will be crawling in no time! The older the gets the more she is interested in her toys or at least chewing on them! Speaking of chewing I think she is close to working some more teeth through, she is gnawing everything and drooling all over the place!

Adelyn had 2 first holidays this month. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Kyle's family and had an early Christmas with my family in Omaha.

Adelyn is consistently eating 5 times a day. I nurse her in the morning and at night before bed. And then she has 3 bottles of breastmilk at daycare. I'm so happy that I've made it half way to my goal of nuring for a year! I really enjoy our time together in the morning and at night! During her 6th month she had rice cereal just once a day at daycare during the week and then at home on the weekends.

During her 6th month we didn't try any foods yet. More on that for her 7 month post! :)

Adelyn is still wearing size 2 diapers and size 3-6 mo clothes. She had 2 Christmas outfits that were 6-9 months and were still a bit big, but I think Januaray/Feburary will be another switch over of her closet!

*SIX MONTH STATS*

weight – 17lbs, 10 oz

length – 27 in

eating – 100% nursing or breastmilk from a bottle

clothes - 3-6 months

diapers - size 2

Final Christmas Post

2012-01-08T23:44:00.001-06:00

Alright friends, you will have to bear with me! I wanted to get the last of our Christmas pictures posted, more for my record/memory than anything!

We celebrated Christmas with Kyle’s family on Christmas Eve at his parents house. We had brunch, opened gifts, played games, and finished the day with homemade pizza for supper!

After supper at Kyle’s parents we went to an evening Christmas Eve service at church, one of my favorite things!

We had our own little family Christmas on Christmas morning at home! I’m excited to start new traditions like this with Adelyn!

After our family Christmas at home we went to my Mom’s house for Christmas with her and my Step Dad. They made a nice brunch and we opened gifts.

We got Hayden a train table! He was more interested in the giant bow though! ;p

My Mom wanted to something practical for Adelyn, so we were thankful for a BIG box of diapers. But when we got it unwrapped Adelyn just started CRYING!! We all laughed…the timing was too funny! She was just tried and starting to get sick, so she wasn’t feeling well. Poor girl!

Grandma has a full lap!!

It was a wonderful Christmas season! Having a baby just makes the holiday season SO much more fun and I’m sure as she grows it will just continue!! Thanks for putting up with all my Christmas posts!!

Year in Review

2012-01-08T21:47:00.002-06:00

Although we are already 8 days into the new year I still wanted to recap 2011 in the Bangert family. 2011 was a remarkable year filled with blessings beyond belief! Sit back and enjoy a recap of 2011 from our family!

January marked the half way point of my pregnancy and we found out we were having a GIRL!!

In February we headed east to Chicago to visit Kyle’s sister, Melanie and her husband Steve. I think it’s official that it’s an annual trip now!

In March we had some extended time off work for spring break. We took advantage of that time and worked in the nursery. The main project was this amazing closet organizer that Kyle installed!

The end of April my amazing sisters threw me a wonderful baby shower!!

May was a full month! We had maternity pictures taken! (something I’m so thankful that we did!!)

I had my 2nd baby shower. This one was thrown by some great co-workers!!

And we ended the month by finishing off Adelyn’s nursery!

Of course, the highlight of June was welcoming our sweet baby girl into the world!

July was a wonderful month! I enjoyed my time home with Adelyn so much! We celebrated her first holiday at my Mom’s!

I helped plan one of my bestie’s bachelorette party! My Mom was so kind to come along and watch Adelyn so I didn’t have to leave her for the whole weekend!

And when this sweet girl was just 1 month old we were able to capture her sweet smile on camera!

In August I had my 3rd and final shower with some wonderful girls!

We also hosted a couple’s shower for our wonderful friends, Mark & Jenna!

We ended the month with a trip to Omaha to see my sister Stef and her husband Geoff! It was Adelyn’s first road trip!

September was a hard month. I had to go back to work after spending 11+ weeks home with my sweet girl. But there were some definite highlights, we celebrated our nephew’s 1st birthday!

Hawkeye football season began! This is our 5th year as season ticket holders.

Our friends, Mark & Jenna, got married and we were honored to stand up for them on their special day!

And last, but not least, we dedicated our sweet Adelyn to the Lord.

October was a fun month! We took to the pumpkin patch to pick out her first pumpkin!

Adelyn had her first taste of rice cereal and loved it!

My good friend, Kim, and I made a trip to Kansas with our babies for a crafting weekend!

Adelyn’s bottom two teeth came in!

And we celebrated another holiday with this cute little duck!

November was a month of firsts for me a as a Mom. I had to have my first overnight away from Adelyn. It wasn’t easy. In the beginning of the month I had a work trip for 3 days in state and then at the end of the month I had a week long trip to Las Vegas. Now that was fun, but I still missed my baby girl SO much!

Adelyn went from doing the tripod to full on sitting on her own this month!

December was nothing short of magical! Having Adelyn this year made Christmas extra special! Not only did we celebrate Adelyn's first Christmas, but Kyle finished his Bachelor's degree! Needless to say he was very excited for this!!

There is our year in a “nutshell”! We are truly blessed and can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store for our little family!

An Omaha Christmas

2012-01-01T19:39:00.001-06:00

The weekend before Christmas Kyle, Adelyn, Hayden, Wendi, and I traveled to our sister & BIL, Stef & Geoff’s, house in Omaha. The rest of my family joined us as well, 13 in total. We had Christmas a weekend early in Omaha because my sister is 37 weeks pregnant and cannot travel home, so we went to her!

We got to Stef & Geoff’s house late Friday night. Thankfully the kiddos slept the whole way! Stefanie, even almost 9 months pregnant, is a wonderful host and had breakfast cooking when we woke up Saturday morning!

We spent the morning getting ready for our big Christmas lunch and catching up! Hayden preferred pressing his face up against the cold window & playing with Grandpa!

We sat the kids on the couch and let them interact. Hayden loves to “give love” and Adelyn got her share!

The table was set and the food was ready, let’s have our Christmas lunch!!

We savored our Christmas lunch and with full tummies enjoyed the afternoon playing games and opening gifts!

Adelyn was more interested in the wrapping paper than the gift that was underneath it!

I got my sister an Erin Condren life planner, she loved it!! I got one over the summer, loved it so much, and gave a few for gifts this Christmas!

We had a relaxing evening, went to see a few Christmas lights, met up with Kyle’s sister who lives in the area, and enjoyed family time!

Sunday morning after breakfast, Adelyn was on the floor with Aunt Stef and I’m pretty sure she must have known there was another baby in her belly!

It was so cute how she kept her arm or hand on her tummy the whole time!

We went to church with Stef & Geoff and then stopped by the Botanical Gardens afterwards to get some pictures with this giant poinsettia Christmas tree!

I love my sisters!!!!!!!!

We ate in downtown Omaha, the Old Market area, at Blue Sushi. Adelyn enjoyed the cold drinks! Ha!

After lunch we packed up and hit the road. The babies didn’t sleep much on the way home, but they were SO good! They played & “chatted” almost the whole way!

We had a great weekend with our family celebrating this wonderful season! I sure hope everyone isn’t getting tired of all these Christmas posts, only 2 more left!

Family Celebration Date

2012-01-01T13:12:00.001-06:00

As of Sunday December 18th Kyle is officially done with his Bachelor’s degree! He will graduate with a double major in Business Management and Organizational Leadership. It was a busy 18 months, but he finished and was very successful, all A’s!!! We had a small celebration as a family and went out for supper one night the week we were off work before Christmas.

Adelyn’s new favorite thing these days is sucking/licking a cold glass!! Too bad I wasn’t quick enough with my camera to capture it!

Adelyn and Mommy are very proud of our favorite guy!! He worked hard and was very successful!!

Cookie Bake

2011-12-30T12:41:00.001-06:00

Not only did Adelyn meet Santa and we have Christmas with friends the week we were off work, we also had a cookie bake with a few dear friends, my SIL Mel, Kate, and Tawny.

Tawny’s 37 weeks prego and was a great host!! Tawny and I were middle school and junior high BFF’s!

We made sugar cookies and decorated them! (sorry for the shadow-ed picture…still figuring out my new camera!) After we got our cookies decorated we had a great time catching up and talking all things baby! I think this should be our 1st annual cookie bake girls!

Christmas with Friends

2011-12-30T11:24:00.001-06:00

When we were off work before Christmas we had all kinds of fun things planned! One of them included traveling about an hour north to our good friends house, Vahn & Sara and their 2 girls, Emma & Grace. Sara and I worked together at the college for a few years and have stayed close friends ever since! We always say we just wish we lived closer to see each other more!

Emma is 3 and Grace turned 1 on Christmas. Grace was really connected to me! If I was sitting on the floor she would just come right over and snuggle in my lap. She’s such a sweet little girl! Sara said she was so surprised by this because she doesn’t usually go to new people that quickly!

We brought Emma just a small little bonus gift, a giant color book. It was so funny ‘cause she was more about tearing out the pages and giving them to us than coloring them! I love her look of innocence in this picture!

Sara made us a great supper and afterwards we did a little gift exchange!

Needless to say Emma was pretty excited about her new outfit! She loves clothes, it’s so cute!

And Grace was more excited about the wrapping than her gift, but that’s ok!

They gave Adelyn a Leap Frog fridge toy where you make matches with animals. She LOVES it! Thanks guys!!!

We couldn’t resist getting a picture of our 3 girls together! Getting pictures of 3 little girls under 3 is pretty hard though…Take 1

Take 2…

Take 3…

Take 4…still no go…

Take 5…I think this is the closest we’re going to get!

Pictures of the Momma’s are a little easier!

Like I mentioned earlier Grace turned 1 on Christmas, so we brought along her birthday gift too.

We had a great time with our friends! Thanks for having us guys!

Adelyn Meets Santa

2011-12-29T20:42:00.001-06:00

The week before Christmas Kyle and I were off work all week. One of the things on our “to-do” list was to take Adelyn to meet Santa! Growing up Santa wasn’t a big part of Christmas, but I knew about him and we got gifts from Santa. We always knew that the true meaning of Christmas was about celebrating Jesus’ birth. I think Santa will be a fun tradition for our family. So without further ado here is Adelyn’s first time meeting Santa!

She studied him over for a quite a while and then decided to flash us a few small smiles! These are the pictures I snapped with my camera which I was more happy with than the 2 I paid $12 for.

My sister had another good reason for telling our kids about Santa. She said she didn’t want it to be her little guy who spoils it for the kids at school if he told them Santa wasn’t real! Ha, made me giggle!

Beginning Solids

2011-12-27T23:12:00.001-06:00

While we were on Christmas break (read: 10 days off work!) we took advantage of the time at home with Adelyn to begin solids. We started on Tuesday the 20th with sweet potatoes and went to applesauce a few days later. She did really well with the new foods and we got some great entertainment out of it! You have to check out the series of pictures below!

Bring on the new food, Mom!

And here’s the first bite of applesauce!

I don’t think she was sure what to think!

And here is where the entertainment begins! She made this face with EVERY single bite of sweet potatoes and applesauce!

Don’t worry, I tried both foods to make sure they weren’t sour! But based on that face you would think otherwise!

I think the new flavors were just a bit much for her little taste buds! This sweet girl just cracks me up!

We tried peas on Monday the 26th and we didn’t get the same result. But she also wasn’t feeling well and didn’t eat the same. So we’ll see how she does over the next few days. Hope this gave ya a giggle or two!!

From Our Family to Yours

2011-12-23T16:08:00.001-06:00

We just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Kyle’s sister Laura designed our Christmas card this year, thanks Laura! We hope you and your family have a blessed holiday and remember the reason we celebrate this joyous season!

Adelyn’s New Trick!

2011-12-23T16:01:00.001-06:00

A few weeks ago Adelyn fully discovered her tongue! She now loves to go “pppsssbbbbtt” (or however you spell it)! Check out the video for the full effect! If you stick around till about 1 minute she really gets going!

And you know we laughed and laughed at her doing this, but I didn’t think it was so funny when I was feeding her cereal over the weekend and she decided to do it with a mouth full of cereal! Needless to say there was cereal EVERYWHERE!

Christmas Wish

2011-12-21T07:53:00.001-06:00

In hopes of a white Christmas, Adelyn is wearing her snowman PJs!

She is saying “Please let the weather man be wrong!”. Currently there isn’t any snow in the forecast, but we’re hoping her snowman PJs help give us a white Christmas!

Adelyn’s First Christmas Program

2011-12-20T07:49:00.001-06:00

Last week Adelyn’s daycare put on their Christmas program. Obvioulsy she won’t remember it and didn’t sing, but I couldn’t resist having her participate in her first Christmas program! And this was the perfect time to start getting some wear out of her new SheSheMade Christmas dress!

Before we headed out I had to snap some pictures of my sweet girl! Like always, she was all smiles! My sister commented this weekend that Adelyn just gives those smiles away for free, so true!

Adelyn’s group was first at the program. They pooled the baby room with the next 2 older rooms. Mainly the workers sang. There were a few crys and some coo-ing! The put bells on the babies’ arms to shake!

It took me a minute to find Adelyn, but once I did I went to the other side of the auditorium and once I was closer she spotted me right away!

See her there in the middle? She knows her Mama! The rest of the program she had her eyes locked on me! Totally melted my heart!

Afterwards we had to get a few pictures with friends! Kim and her family are moving to Kansas in February. We are so happy for them, this is what they’ve wanted for along time, but we are going to miss them SO much. Ok, I’m done talking about it, makes me sad!

Kyle got me a DSLR camera for Christmas (obviously an early gift!), so as you can tell he’s still figuring it out. This picture is a bit out of focus, but I still love it!

We snapped a few more pictures when we got home. Adelyn was way more interested in the Christmas tree than taking pictures though! She wouldn’t let go of it!

Having our sweet baby girl sure does make Christmas extra special this year. I love making all these new memories with my little family and it’s fun thinking about everything that is yet to come!

Bath Time Fun

2011-12-19T13:27:00.001-06:00

Since Adelyn can sit up now I finally took out the hammock thing from her bathtub. I think she was happy to be up and able to play. Or should I say chew on her washcloth!

Who needs a rubber ducky when you have a wash cloth to play with in the tub? Ha! Ever since she was born, bath time has been a favorite of Adelyn’s. She can be in the worst mood and when you put her in the tub, she’s completely happy!

I didn’t think it was possible, but I think she loves bath time even more now. She’s always kicking her feet and splashing in the water! So fun!

Smocked Christmas Dress

2011-12-18T20:45:00.001-06:00

Our favorite clothing designer, SheShe Made, was selling smocked clothing this year. I hadn’t seen these before, but have a lot of “blog friends” who love anything smocked and I loved the details on the outfit, so I ordered one for Adelyn (nope I ordered 2, one for next year, ha!)! And I’m a sucker for anything festive to dress my little girl up in!

Well evidently smocked clothing isn’t something people from Iowa have seen before. The first words out of Kyle’s mouth were: “Why is she wearing that outfit?” Don’t ask me where in the world he got Indian from her sweet little outfit! But it sure did give me a good laugh! And lets just say when we were out that night we got some interesting comments, including one from my sister: “What did you put Adelyn in?”

I told Kyle that Adelyn is going to start a trend in Iowa! And I sure hope this post doesn’t make Iowans sound like back country hicks…! Ha! We really aren’t hillbillies!

Mommy’s Home!

2011-12-13T22:09:00.001-06:00

The week after Thanksgiving I had a 5 day work trip to Las Vegas. Now most people would love the idea that they get to go to Las Vegas for work, but when you have to leave this sweet girl for that long it makes it MUCH harder!

Although Adelyn tried to sneak in my suitcase, she didn’t get to go to Vegas with Mommy….it did cross my mind though! My Mom even offered to fly there and be my nanny for the week! Anyway…between phone calls, skype, and lots of pictures sent I survived and so did Daddy & Adelyn! (I wasn’t worried about them!)

I got home Friday night around 11pm and it was all I could to not pick her up from her crib. But I held out, went to bed, and jumped up the second I heard her wake up Saturday morning. I went into her room and she gave me the BIGGEST smile and reached for me!! It totally melted my heart, she knew Mommy was home! She hasn’t reached for me or anyone else since, but I’m still going with the fact that she knew what she was doing!

Lots happened while I was gone that week. Adelyn went from doing the tripod sit to being an all out sitter! I was so proud of my sweet girl!! And I think you can tell by the pictures, that she was pretty proud of herself!

I think her favorite part is now she can reach out for Abby…if Abby gets close enough!

Can you tell that she loves her puppy?

And Abby loves Adelyn! We spent the day Saturday getting in lots of snuggles (Mommy needed to catch up!), did some shopping, and of course lots of play time on the floor…while sitting!

I’m happy to say I have no more work trips planned till next fall (I hope!).

No Peeking!

2011-12-13T11:21:00.001-06:00

Mom, can I please just open up one present early?

Christmas Jammies

2011-12-07T20:33:00.001-06:00

I am a sucker for Christmas PJs, especially when they are little and go on this cutie!!

I think I have about 5-6 pairs for her to wear throughout the Christmas season! I just had to find the perfect pair and I kept finding more!

Some of them are snowmen though so she can wear those all winter (maybe this is how I justify it to myself!). I started her in them as soon as I got back from my work trip over the weekend, gotta get all the wear out of them before Christmas that we can!

Pink Hawkeye

2011-12-03T23:11:00.001-06:00

Kyle and I have season tickets to the Hawkeye football games. One road close to the stadium is Melrose Ave and on game days it’s lined with shops and food stands. When I found out we were having a girl I couldn’t wait to visit one of the shops. They have these sparkly Hawkeye shirts for women, girls, and babies! And think sparkly always catches my attention and when it’s pink that’s just the icing on the cake!

The onesie worked perfect with the tutu a friend of mine made for Adelyn’s 3 month pictures! Needless to say she was always outfitted for game days this fall! unfortunately the Hawks didn’t end the season too well, but we are still Hawk fans through and through!

First Taste of Cereal

2011-12-03T22:58:00.001-06:00

This post is very late, over a month to be a little more precise! On October 29th we tried cereal with Adelyn for the first time. We mixed it with 3T formula and 1T cereal (I was trying to save all the breastmilk I could for an upcoming week long work trip). So with that mixture it was very runny, but good for a first try. She did really well for a first try!

She even cleaned her plate!

Day 2 with cereal was even better (as you can tell by the picture)! I mixed the cereal a little bit thicker and she did really well. She eats like a champ now and I think by the time she’s 6 months she’ll be more than ready for baby food.

This is mainly for the Grandma’s & Aunties, but to see Adelyn’s first experience with cereal check out the video below!

Adelyn’s Five Months Old!

2011-12-03T22:25:00.001-06:00

November 21st marked Adelyn’s 5th month of life! It’s hard to believe Adelyn is less than one month away from being half a year old! This sweet girl has forever changed our lives in a way we never knew way possible! Adelyn’s fifth month of life was a busy, full one, but great at the same time!

We are so thankful how happy Adelyn is all the time. You can just look at her and she smiles from her head all the way to her toes! Kyle’s Mom said he was the same way when he was a baby! She is getting much easier to get belly laughs out of these days too! Daddy is especially good at it!

Adelyn is SO, SO close to being a “sitter”. She does the “tripod” like a champ, but if she gets too excited or reaches too far one way she falls over. I wouldn’t be surprised if I will be posting this coming week about our little girl who sits on her own! She still isn’t showing many signs of crawling, despite daycare’s opinion. When she’s on her tummy her arms and legs are just a going, like she’s swimming or something, but she doesn’t go anywhere! She can turn herself around to face a different direction or wiggle her way to a different place on her play mat, but no crawling yet.

The day after Adelyn turned 4 months old we noticed 2 little white teeth poking through her bottom gums! She didn’t get fussy or anything when they were coming through, which we were thankful for. Now they are all the way through and you can clearly see her 2 pearly whites when she flashes that sweet smile!

This little girl loves anything she can chew on! Sophie the giraffe is her favorite, along with her taggie blanket and a few other teethers. But if those toys aren’t available she is willing to chew on anything that she can get in her mouth!

On October 29th we tried rice cereal for the first time with Adelyn. We mixed it with 3T formula and 1T cereal (I was trying to save all the breastmilk I could for an upcoming week long work trip). It was very runny, but she still did really well. As the month went on she continued to get better and better. And we also began mixing the cereal a little thicker and she did really well with that too. She does so well with the spoon and the majority of the cereal ends up in her mouth! We are planning on starting baby food around 6 months.

Adelyn still eats 5-6 times per day. The rice cereal is just an addition. I usually get to nurse her 2-3 times a day and she has 3 bottles of breastmilk at daycare.

Adelyn is still wearing size 2 diapers and size 3-6 mo clothes. I bought a few Christmas outfits in 6-12 thinking she would be in the next size up by that time, but nope! I just had to exchange them today for the 3-6mo size! She really is a long little girl!

We count it a huge blessing to have such a happy little girl! We are especially looking forward to celebrating our first Christmas a family of 3!

*FIVE MONTH STATS*

weight – didn’t weigh her

length – didn’t measure her

eating – 100% nursing or breastmilk from a bottle

clothes - 3-6 months

diapers - size 2

Watch me grow!

Mommy’s Lil Pumpkin

2011-11-09T11:48:00.001-06:00

The week before Halloween I dressed Adelyn in fun holiday outfits each day for daycare!

This outfit is from a store that was having a sell out this summer, only $3! I think all Mommies would agree that anything with Mommy on it is hard to resist! ;) Funny thing is that she is wearing a Mommy shirt today too! Ha!

The whole time she was sitting in the chair she was just jabbering up a storm and smiling away!

I just love all the faces she makes! A friend at a scrapbooking retreat a few years ago did a scrapbook of all black & white pictures of her kids and the faces they make, I can’t wait to do that with Adelyn!

Another silly face! I sure do love this little girl!!

Hope everyone is having a great week! I told Kyle this morning on the way to work that 2 weeks from today it will be our “Friday” since we will be off for a 4 day weekend for Thanksgiving! Hooray!!!

Adelyn Loves her Feet!

2011-11-08T11:05:00.001-06:00

I have SO much blogging to catch up on! Over the past week or 2 I feel like I’ve taken SO many pictures…but how can you blame me when this sweet girl is your subject?!?!

Anyway, on to the point of my post! Over the past 2-3 weeks Adelyn has become obsessed with her feet! It just cracks us up! If she could get both feet in her mouth she would!

When we lay her down on the changing table her these days, it’s automatic that her feet come up and her hands find them and then straight to her mouth! Silly girl!

Who needs toys when you have toes to grab?!?!

And I couldn’t help but to include this one from the day. No she isn’t reaching for her feet, but I just love that big smile!!

Quack Quack

2011-10-31T16:08:00.001-05:00

That is Adelyn’s way of saying Happy Halloween! Ha! She didn’t mind her costume too much, actually she tried to eat it! We don’t plan to trick or treat, but couldn’t resist dressing our little one up for the holiday!

I feel like her costume makes her look SO big! She is just growing up way TOO fast! We have to thank my co-worker, Kelli, for Adelyn’s costume. It was a hand me down and we were A-ok with that!

And a holiday wouldn’t be complete with a personalized outfit from SheSheMade! And luckily Halloween wasn’t any further away, otherwise her romper wouldn’t have been long enough! This girl is just growing & growing!

Adelyn’s Four Months Old!

2011-10-30T12:24:00.001-05:00

On October 21st Adelyn turned 4 months old! She continues to grow and change all the time! Sometimes when we pick her up in the evenings from daycare I think it looks like she changed just in those 10 hours we were away from her!

Late September I got a call from daycare that Adelyn was running a temp of 100.2. So I quickly got her a Dr. appointment that afternoon. The Dr said she had double ear infection and put her on some antibiotics. That week was pretty rough on her, she didn’t sleep well, but by 1 week later she was back to her normal happy self! Speaking of Adelyn being happy, unless she is hungry or tired she is usually smiling, cooing, and just jabbering to herself! We feel so blessed to have such a happy little girl!

Adelyn visited 2 new states in her 4th month of life. We took a trip with my friend Kim and her little guy Reece to Missouri & Kansas for a crafting weekend! Adelyn was such a great little traveler. Hayden just couldn’t resist joined Adelyn for a picture! He is about 13 1/2 months now. Notice his shirt, “I’m a Hawkeye just like my Uncle”! I wonder who got him that?!?!

We are amazed at how strong Adelyn is getting! On October 1st she rolled from her back to her tummy and daycare thinks that she’s not far away from crawling. I’m not so sure about that, but when she is on her tummy she sure does move her arms & legs, but just doesn’t go anywhere, so I’m sure she’ll surprise us once again! However I think she is a little bit closer to sitting on her own. She’s pretty good at doing the “tripod”.

Adelyn is a busy little girl! She is hold grabbing for something and wiggling those arms & legs! A new favorite when we’re changing her diaper is to grab her feet and pull them up to her mouth! In fact I tried to take per 4 month pictures a night early and this was the result! Silly little girl!

Another thing we learned from daycare is that Adelyn holds her own bottle! We would’ve never known this because I always nurse her when she is home with us! We were so surprised to hear this that we had to give her a bottle to see for ourselves. Sure enough she grabs right on and holds it all by herself! I think we have an independent little girl on our hands!

We finished out the Pampers size 1-2 diapers and moved to size 2. They seemed really big at first, but she’s quickly growing into them! And I finally did the whole switch over of her closet to her size 3-6 mo clothes.

Adelyn has been giving us little “ha ha’s” quite a bit, but this month she had her first all out giggle! It was the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard! She happened to think the crinkling of a grocery sack was the funniest thing that night. Unfortunately it was a one time thing. I tried it a few nights later with her and didn’t get the same result! if you want to hear it for yourself, click here!

At her four month appointment she weighed 15.2 lbs and was 26 1/8 inches long. She was in the 97th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight. Doctor said she’s perfect! And of course we agree! We love this little girl more than anything. Waking up to her happy coo’s and smiles every morning is our favorite way to start the day! We feel blessed beyond words to have such a happy, healthy little girl!

*FOUR MONTH STATS*

weight 15.2 lbs

length 26 1/8 in long

eating 100% breastfeeding

clothes 3-6 months & some 0-3

diapers size 1-2 & size 2

Watch me grow!

Wear Your Baby

2011-10-27T10:30:00.001-05:00

While I was pregnant I got multiple emails from this place called Seven Everyday Slings with a promo code for a free sling. At first I thought it was a scam! Why would they pick me and send me a free sling? Well come to find out it wasn’t a scam and by paying a few dollars for shipping I got a free sling!

I tried it out when Adelyn was tiny, but she really didn’t like it. I was so bummed. I thought for sure she would like it because it holds her close to me wrapped up nice and tight. I decided to pull it out last week to see what she would think. As you can see by her smile in the picture, she loved it!

We also have a Snugli carrier. (this is what she was in when we heard her first giggle) It’s a pretty basic carrier that she can either face me or outwards. She is pretty content in this as well. She really likes it now that she can face out. Daycare says she’s a nosy little girl ‘cause she always has to know what’s going on! ;) Anyway…back to the carrier. This one is a little more “macho” where Daddy wouldn’t mind wearing it!

A fellow blog friend, Katy over at the The Link Home, actually makes baby wraps! I was so impressed to read that she made it and Pearson looks like he just loves it! I’m so tempted to buy one…keep convincing me Katy! :) Click here to check out the K’link baby wraps!

Adelyn has something to show you!

2011-10-26T15:12:00.001-05:00

If we could only get her to open her mouth…

With Daddy’s help and some silly sounds we got a few wide mouth smiles from Adelyn so she could show off her 2 new teeth!

That’s right, I said TWO TEETH!! We couldn’t believe it!! Just before the weekend we discovered these 2 little, sharp, white things in her mouth! We knew they were coming because she’s been drooling and gnawing on things for 3-4 weeks, but didn’t think it would be this soon! She just turned 4 months old on Friday the 21st.

Now Mommy just hopes she doesn’t use them when she’s nursing! ;) So far, she’s done well!

Baby Food

2011-10-26T15:07:00.001-05:00

A few weeks ago Adelyn and I headed down to my Mom’s house to make some baby food! A friend/neighbor of my Mom’s had an apple tree that was just loaded with apples. They are an elderly couple and weren’t going to use the apples this year, so my Mom found out we could have them!

Mom, Adelyn, and I went and picked two grocery bags FULL! We then headed back to my Mom’s house and got busy! We cleaned all the apples first and then cut them up.

Once they were cleaned & cut we put a little water in the bottom of a pan and let them cook until they got nice and soft.

After they were cooked, we used this thing to make them into applesauce. I have no clue what it’s called. It was my Great Grandma’s and my Mom inherited it. Whatever it is, it worked great!

My Mom was a great help throughout the whole process. She did the majority of the cutting and mushing part!

After my Mom got the apples all “mushed” I divided them into small containers to cool and then freeze. I used smaller Glad containers so I could just grab one out of the freezer for Adelyn.

We are thinking of starting her on food maybe next month. She is still doing really well just nursing, so we don’t see the need to rush the cereal or baby food.

I ended up popping them out of the cups and Mom made another batch of applesauce for Adelyn. Needless to say, we are stocked up on applesauce. I’ve heard it’s good to mix it with the rice cereal or just eat plain. Either way I’m excited to have made this for my baby and know there isn’t anything in it, but apples! I’ve also done a few squashes and some sweet potatoes that are in the freezer for Adelyn.

Adelyn’s First Laugh

2011-10-19T16:57:00.001-05:00

Last night I had Adelyn in the Snugli while I was in the kitchen getting supper ready and cleaning up. I was rolling up a plastic grocery sack to put it away and I heard the sweetest sound ever!! Listen for yourself!

The first video gets out of focus a little and she losses interest in the 2nd one. Our charger for the video camera battery is MIA so these were taken with our regular camera.

Enjoy!

Crafting Weekend

2011-10-17T17:02:00.001-05:00

My friend and co-worker Kim and I, along with our babies, headed south over the weekend to Kansas for some crafting. She does this every year with her family and invited me along this year! Our destination was Baldwin City, Kansas. Every year they have the Maple Leaf Festival with a good sized craft show.

We left at 5am Saturday morning on our 5 hour drive. The babies did WONDERFUL!! We stopped once on the way down to feed them and that was it!

Kim’s little guy Reece is 3 weeks younger than Adelyn. They happen to be at the same daycare in the same room! We said all weekend how fun it is going to be to watch our babies grow up together.

Ok…back to our weekend! With the kiddos fed and dressed in their black & orange we headed to the craft show!

Adelyn was excited!! ;) She should be too because I’m pretty sure about 95% of what I bought was for her! It’s funny how things change once babies come along! I love the change though!

The craft show was PACKED with people! It made it quite interesting maneuvering our strollers around!

Nearby one of the food stands were these little violin players. Look at the tiny one near the front, she has to be 3 or 4! They were good too!

About half way through the craft show we met up with Kim’s family to chat a bit and to feed the babies! This is Kim’s niece Amber and her little girl Cambry (I hope I spelled that right!). Amber was so kind to let us park at her place and use her house for feeding the babies, changing them, and storing some bottles! Thanks Amber! :) One more thing, Cambry is 6 months old and crawling! I cannot even imagine Adelyn crawling in 2 months, crazy!

Reece and Adelyn were both SO good in their strollers all day. And when I say all day I mean like 5-6 hours, which I was pretty impressed with!! I think it means like that craft shows! ;)

While we were stopped Adelyn had her legs resting up on the stroller. Everyone got a kick out of her doing that! I joked that it wasn’t very lady like!!

Once we were craft show-ed out we headed to Kim’s Aunt Ginger’s house just about 15 minutes away. We spent the evening there with Kim’s family including her Aunt Ginger, Aunt Pat, Phyllis (Kim’s Mother In Law), cousin Shelly, and friend Pete. Every year they have soups for supper and just relax around the house visiting the night away.

Phyllis enjoyed getting her Grandma time in. I say she was Adelyn’s adopted Grandma for the weekend! As you can tell by Adelyn’s face she liked that idea!! :) But I’m not so sure Reece wanted to share his Grandma! :)

When Sunday rolled around everyone packed up and headed out. Kim and I got the babies ready and drove a bit to the Legends, an outlet mall outside Kansas City. While Kim was getting ready and I was watching the kids I had to snap a few more pictures of them together! I tried to get Reece to put his arm around Adelyn, but as you can tell by his arms he was having no part of that! Ha!

I just know they won’t appreciate these pictures when they are 16!

Our friend Jenna, who lives in KC, met up with us at the craft show on Saturday and then joined us for some shopping on Sunday too. I was glad we got to see her on this last minute trip!!

And Jenna was happy to see the babies! Jenna just got married last month, but I think these 2 little ones were giving her baby fever! ;)

We finished up our shopping, said good bye’s to Jenna, and hit the road. And the babies were just as good on the way home! Kim and I enjoyed the girl/mommy talk the whole way home. So much so that Kim lost her voice. :(

I will have to do another post with my craft show finds last this week! Happy Monday everyone!

One Year Ago…

2011-10-17T15:24:00.001-05:00

Sunday October 16th, 2010 was the day Kyle & I found out we were pregnant! It is a day we will always remember!

The excitement and anticipation of a baby on the way is so fun! And now having Adelyn watching her grow, learn, and change everyday is even more fun!

Of course it isn't always perfect, every parent knows that! But so far this new journey that Kyle and I have embarked on is pretty amazing!

The Latest

2011-10-14T15:59:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday everyone! I hope you all enjoyed the wealth of updates I posted over the weekend last week. It’s hard to believe Adelyn is 16 weeks old, going on 4 months! Time is flying by WAY too fast! She is growing and changing everyday. It’s so fun, though, to watch how she learns new things!

Mostly everyday Kyle and I ride to work together. It’s so nice to have 2 sets of hands to get Adelyn into to daycare and settled. Well when Kyle and I went to pick her up one day last week she was in the jumper/exersaucer thing and I thought “No way, she can’t be big enough for that?!?!”. Well she obviously was! ;) I decided it was time to get our’s out at home for her to see what she thought!

I had to put a blanket around her ‘cause the opening was quite a bit bigger than the one she was in at daycare, but we were able to lower it enough so her feet could touch the floor. She didn’t bounce too much, but she did like looking at all the new toys that surrounded her!

This is her “latest” thing she’s doing. She loves to put her feet up in the air. She grabs at them quite a bit too, but mostly she’ll just sit there with her feet in the air! Too funny!

Did you notice the John Deere corn teether in the picture? This is a gift from Grandma B, it vibrates. Adelyn really likes it, but it’s almost too heavy for her to hold on to so it usually ends up just sitting on her tummy! She’s definitely an Iowa girl! :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Adelyn and I are headed out of town with some friends while Daddy is going to the Hawkeye game.

Catch up on our family!

2011-10-09T22:58:00.001-05:00

Hello friends! I did a little blogging over the weekend. Since going back to work I’ve fallen quite a ways behind on keeping this updated! Instead of scrolling through the blog you can click on each link below to get caught up on the Bangert family happenings!

And just for fun here is my latest favorite picture of my favorite little girl!!

Ear Infection

2011-10-09T22:53:00.002-05:00

In Adelyn’s 3 month post I mentioned she got a cold after being at daycare for just a short time. Well a week or so later she was running a 100.2 temp and quite fussy so we took her into the doctor and confirmed the poor little one had double ear infection. They put her on some meds and within a few days we could tell we had our happy baby back.

They did want to see her for a 1 week follow up to look at her ears again. So Daddy and I took a few hours off work a morning last week and took our sweet girl in to the see the doctor. Thankfully they said everything looked good!

I was already dressed when I got Adelyn ready. I had laid out her purple onesie the night before and I couldn’t resist her wearing these cute little gray pants to match Mommy in her purple & gray!! PS Don’t you just love her onesie: “My Mom is awesome, fun, and the best”!!

Tummy Time

2011-10-09T22:45:00.001-05:00

The first weekend in October Kyle and I helped with the 10K race route for the Applefest run. We bundled Adelyn up, put her in the Snugli carrier, and headed out to cheer on & guide runners! It was a lot of fun, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed we weren’t running. Adelyn snuggled up and slept the whole time in the Snugli carrier. By the way, the first was the first time she lasted longer than 3 minutes in the carrier. I think she will like it more once she is holding her head 100% and can face forward in it.

Ok, on to the reason for the post! We try to get in a little tummy time everyday. Well over the past month it’s been getting less and less because this strong little girl just rolls right from her tummy to her back.

Well on Saturday October 5th I put her down on her tummy, went to the kitchen to do something, and within a few minutes time she had done about 5 rolls and was off the area rug!

I said “Kyle how did she get this far over?” He was busy doing homework, so he didn’t see it either. So we put her back on her tummy and she rolled from her tummy to her back and then back to her tummy!! This was the first time we’d seen her roll from her back to her tummy!

This little one is just growing and changing too fast!

Grandma Loves her Babies!

2011-10-09T22:36:00.001-05:00

Impromptu family visits are my favorite! My parents stopped by one night this week to get their grand-baby fix! Wendi and Hayden happened to be over at our house too. Hayden is a definite Grandma's boy, so when Grandma was loving on Adelyn he was a tad jealous!

But never fear Hayden, you have a strong Grandma who can handle both of you!!! I love Adelyn's big grin in this picture!! Soon Grandma will have to make room for one more Grand-baby, Stef is due in 3 short months!!

1st Annual Applefest

2011-10-09T22:35:00.001-05:00

Last Saturday was Applefest at our local Orchard. They had all kinds of fun games for kids, rides to the pumpkin patch, and food galore! I knew I wanted to start this tradition with Adelyn this year!

So we got her all dressed up, she got in a quick nap, and we 1made our first annual trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out her pumpkin!

It was a warm windy morning, a perfect fall day.

We rode in this cute little pumpkin cruiser out to the pumpkin patch.

And Adelyn picked out her first pumpkin...ok not really...Daddy picked it out for her!

We ran into a few friends from work too! This is Melissa & Melora. Melora is just a month older than Hayden. It was cute to see her walk around the pumpkin patch in her little boots, that will be Adelyn next year. Hard to imagine!!

We got back from the pumpkin patch and walked around a little more. We finished our trip to the Orchard with an apple dumpling (AMAZING!) and called it a day (baby was hungry!). I love starting these traditions and making memories with Adelyn!

Adelyn's dress is courtsey of SheSheMade. I have to admit, I'm a little obsessed!! Ashley does an amazing job and I love that it's personalized. I'm pretty sure she'll stay in business just 'cause of what I get for Adelyn! j/k I already have Thanksgiving & Christmas outfits ordered! ;)

Gallery Wall

2011-10-09T22:21:00.001-05:00

My goal over maternity leave was to have Adelyn's pictures printed and framed before I went back to work! I'm proud to say I achieved that goal!! I did a little re-arranging though.

I took down our wedding pictures, one made it to the hallway and the others will go in storage. Then after moving some other pictures around, lots of searching on pinterest, and purchasing some frames I came up with this gallery wall. These are a few of my inspiration pictures from pinterest.

I also got a lot of good tips from pinterest. This was one I’m thankful that I followed! I measured and cut out paper the size of each frame. On each one I marked where the hanger was and used that as my guide to hang the nail. It worked out perfect!

And the big "B" in the middle is just perfect.

I'm very happy with how it turned out!

Happy 1st Birthday Hayden

2011-10-09T21:44:00.001-05:00

September 12th, 2011 this little cutie turned 1!

He happens to be our sweet nephew Hayden! Hard to believe a year ago he was this small!

We celebrated his first birthday the following Sunday with family & a few friends at my parents' house.

Wendi (Hayden's Mom) and I spent the night before decorating a bit. Wendi acutally did the majority of it and I was so proud of her! She borrowed my cricut and went to town!!

Hayden got a lot of fun gifts. He was more interested in the wrapping, tissue paper, and boxes though (as most kids are)! Hayden just went along and would randomly pull gifts out of their bags or wrapping!

He particularly like this little monkey! So sweet! We got him a little blow up ball pit.

Grandpa Duane grilled out and we had all kinds of yummy sides to go with our hot dogs & hamburgers! And of course the most important part of a birthday party: CAKE!!

Wendi got Hayden his own little smash cake from a local favorite bakery. He was a little hesitant at first…..

but then went to town! Gotta love smash cake pictures!! (Makes me excited for Adelyn's party...but I know it's going to come sooner than what I expect).Happy birthday sweet baby boy!! We’ve enjoyed watching you grow throughout your first year and are excited to see the changes ahead for your 2nd year!! Love you lil Hayden!!

Adelyn’s Three Months Old!!

2011-10-09T21:07:00.001-05:00

Lots of changes have happened in Adelyn’s 3rd month of life! This post is LONG over due…over 2 weeks to be exact! However I did manage to get her pictures taken on the 21st, read on to find out more!

The biggest change is that she is now spending about 10 hours/day at daycare while Mommy & Daddy are at work. The transition, for her, seems to have gone just fine, Mommy on the other hand had a hard time! But this post is about Adelyn, not Mommy!

Adelyn continues to eat very well. While I was still home from work she was nursing about every 2 1/2 – 3 hours during the day. At daycare she takes a bottle about every 2 1/2 – 3 hours as well and does good going from nursing to the bottle & back. She nurses in the morning before daycare and also nurses at night when we get home for the day.

Napping at daycare has been a different story. The teachers in her room says she falls asleep in the swing or bouncy seat, but she can only stay there for 10 minutes because of DHS regulations. At that time her teachers have to move her to her crib. So she takes lots of short naps at daycare! On the weekends we have been working her napping in crib, make a little progress each time! Since she doesn’t take too long of naps at daycare she has been very tired at night, usually napping for 1 1/2 – 2 hours! It allows us to get a few things done, but we are always wanting to wake her so we can spend time with her after not seeing her all day!

Adelyn is a strong little girl! She holds her head up 95% of the time and has been rolling from her tummy to her back since she was 2 months old. I have a feeling rolling from her back to her tummy isn't far off!

She is still in size 1 diapers. We did buy a few of the Pampers size 1-2, its like size 1 1/2! She's also still in 0-3 month clothes. I have gotten a few 3-6 month things out, but completely switching over her close is on the to-do list!

She still likes to suck on her fist and if she could get both in there she was suck on both hands! Last month she lost interest in her "soothie" paci, but this month we tried the Nuk paci's and she likes those. She really only has them for nap time or at night when she goes to bed.

Adelyn got her first cold after being at daycare for only 2 days. Her cry was horse, her nose was running, and the poor girl was coughing so bad. Because of her not feeling well she started waking up during the night. It's been an adjustment to have that middle of the night feeding and still getting up for work in the AM, but we're making it work when the poor little thing doesn't feel well. :(

Overall she's still a happy little girl! When she is awake in the evenings after daycare she is happy to see Mommy & Daddy and gives us lots of smiles! This month has been an adjustment, but we are making it through and slowly getting into a new routine.

With each month Adelyn continues to grow and change. We are enjoying each and every stage of this precious little girl's life. It just needs to slow down!

*THREE MONTH STATS*

weight 14lbs

length 25 3/4 in long (aprox)

eating 100% breastfeeding

clothes 0-3 months, some 3-6

diapers size 1 & size 1-2

Adelyn’s Dedication

2011-10-01T22:22:00.001-05:00

We knew the minute we found out we were pregnant that this baby was a gift from God. When Adelyn was born we put her in God’s hands, but we wanted to do the “official” dedication at our church. On Sunday September 18th, surrounded by our families we dedicated our sweet baby girl to the Lord.

A big part of baby dedication is in our purpose as parents, to accept the challenge of raising Adelyn in the love of God and in the ways of God! During the service Pastor had a few things for us to commit to. We recognize Adelyn as a gift from God and give heartfelt thanks for God’s blessing.

We pledged as parents, in the sight of God and witnesses, to bring up Adelyn in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

We promised to Adelyn every possible benefit of home, school, and church.

And the final parent of the covenant was asking God’s blessing upon Adelyn’s life, to guide, guard, and direct through all of years.

Pastor Janis took Adelyn and prayed over her. The whole time she was smiling and cooing! It was SO sweet!

Then Pastor & Janis prayed over us! It was such a special day and we felt so blessed to have the support of our families there with us. We know Adelyn is blessing from God and we are excited to raise her to know Him!

1 Samuel 1:27-28 For this child I have prayed; and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of Him. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lived he shall be lent to the Lord.

Hawkeye Football

2011-10-01T21:43:00.001-05:00

This is our 4th year as season ticket holders to the Iowa Hawkeye football games. A frequently asked question we’ve gotten since Adelyn was born is if we still planned to get season tickets….the answer was always yes! We want to continue this fun tradition and one day will include her in on the fun!!

The first game of the year was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We spent the night my parents house. They kept Adelyn for the day while we went to the game. Our friends, Nate & Kylie joined us! We left at the early hour of 4am for the 2 1/2 hour road trip to Iowa City. We spent the morning tail gating and enjoying some good eats!

Unfortunately we got rained on at the game! I should say we were hit with a hurricane! It was rianing so hard in the 3rd quarter you could see the sheets of rain coming down and the stairs quickly turned into rivers! Thanks goodness for our ponchos….from the knees up we were dry for the most part!

I zoomed in across the stadium to find Nate & Kylie. Can you spot them? (Hint: Nate has a red jacket on.)

Because of the hevy amount of rain they ended up calling a rain delay that lasted for almost two hours. This was Nate’s first Iowa game, so they were A-ok with waiting it out! While we waited we tried to dry off, which included wringing out our shoes!

After the rain subsided we were able to go back in the stadium to finish watching the game. Because of the length of the delay a LOT of fans left which meant we could sit wherever we wanted….50 yard line, row 5!!

It was like we were so close we could reach out and touch the players and coaches! So cool!

Some friends of our’s from work were at the game. I used the zoom on our camera to find them on the other side of the stadium!!

Despite the rain, we had a great time! Nate’s comment after the game was, “If it hadn’t rained like that we wouldn’t have been able to go down and sit so close.” Good point, no everyone gets to set front & center for their first experience at Kinnick! Oh and we won!

The next weekend Iowa played at Iowa State. This was the weekend of our friends, Mark & Jenna’s, wedding. Unfortunately after 3 overtimes, Iowa lost. Kyle made a risky beat and now with that loss he has to wear an Iowa State polo to work every Friday for the rest of the season. I think everyone at work knows about this bet!

The week after Mark & Jenna’s wedding and Iowa’s loss to ISU, Kyle & Adelyn both got a nasty cold. For this reason and Kyle having a lot of homework, we decided to sell our tickets and stay home. Kyle enjoyed watching the game with his favorite lil Hawkeye fan!

Even though we weren’t there to cheer them on, the Hawks pulled out a great win! They were down 21 points and came back to win it in the 3rd & 4th quarters! It was Iowa’s biggest comeback in Hawkeye football history.

And the last weekend in September was yet another home Iowa game! Yes 3 of the 4 weekends in September were home games! We ended up not going to this game either. Adelyn was so kind to share her cold with Mommy. With all 3 of us being under the weather we decided it would be best to stay home. Plus I didn’t want to leave Adelyn after having to be away from her all week when I was at work.

Thankfully the rest of the home Iowa games are more spread apart! Eventually we hope to have 4 seats so we can take Adelyn with us or maybe other friends.

Quick Update

2011-09-29T10:00:00.027-05:00

Hello all! Well if you look to the right and see how many posts I had in August compared to September I think you could quickly see I haven't had the time I did when I was on maternity leave! Ok so now I'll bring you guys up to speed!

The week after Labor I worked three 1/2 days, just to ease back into it! Leaving Adelyn those first few days was a piece of cake because my Mom came up to our house to watch her. The next week is another story....

That weekend our wonderful friends, Mark & Jenna got married. Kyle & I both had the honor to stand up with them on their big day. It was a perfect weekend!!

Aunt Stef came over from Omaha to watch Adelyn for us on Saturday while we were busy with the wedding festivities. Thanks Aunt Stef!! Speaking of my sister Stef, her and Geoff found out their having a baby GIRL!!!! We are so excited for them. And I know her and Adelyn are going to be best buds growing up!!

The week following Mark & Jenna's wedding was my first full week back to work. Leaving Adelyn at daycare was one of the hardest things I've had to do. Not that we aren't happy with the daycare, we've had a great experience so far, but I just hate being away from her 10+ hours/day. Being back at work full time has been a definite adjustment. I feel like the days and weeks are just flying by and Adelyn is growing by the minute. I just want it all to slow down!!

I've learned that things I used to think were important, such as dusting, vacumming, etc, aren't so much anymore. I'd rather spend my time with my sweet baby girl in the evenings after work! I mean who wouldn't want to spend their time with this sweet girl! Doesn't she look SO big in this picture?!?!

(this picture is from almost 3 weeks ago and I feel like she's already changed in that short amount of time!)

Ok, back to the update! This cute little boy ,AKA our nephew Hayden, turned 1 on September 12th! Hard to believe he's already a year old!!
We dedicated Adelyn on September 18th! The majority of both of our families got to be there for the special day!

On the 21st of September Adelyn turned 3 months old! These past 3 months have been amazing, but also they have flown by!!

We've also been keeping busy with trips to Iowa City for some Hawkeye football and still have quite a few more games this fall! I'm excited for this weekend though, we have no plans and just hope to enjoy a nice fall weekend at home with our family!

I will do more detailed posts on all these happenings, but I wanted to at least let everyone know that I'm still alive & kickin', just getting adjusted to being a working Mom! :)

Adelyn’s Newborn Pictures

2011-09-02T17:17:00.001-05:00

June 21st, 2011 is a day we will never forget. That is the day we were blessed with you, our baby girl. You came into our lives and blessed us beyond belief. You have turned us into to parents and made us fall in love in a whole new way.

To think that God gave you to us to love and raise makes us so happy. We feel so grateful to be your Mommy & Daddy. You have made us a family of three and for right now that feels just right.

Adelyn, I loved you when you were growing in my tummy for 9 months, but I had no idea how much more I could love you once you made your arrival. I have dreamed about having a daughter for years and years. Adelyn you are a dream come true and I love you more than words can describe.

You have turned the man I love in your Daddy. He is completely smitten over you. Watching you and Daddy together melts my heart. And because of you, Adelyn, Daddy & I have a whole new love for each other.

Not only do your Daddy & I love you to pieces, there are many other people in your life that treasure you as well. You have Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, cousins (one is on the way!), and friends who love you so much. You are a blessed little girl.

When you were growing in my tummy Daddy & I prayed all the time that you would be a healthy, happy baby. We thank God everyday that he listened to our prayers and blessed us with a just that. You are a healthy growing little girl with a smile that would melt anyone’s heart.

Over these past 2+months we have loved seeing you grow and change. You have already given us so much love and laughter and pure joy. Hearing your coo’s & little noises will turn any frown into a smile!

Waking up every morning and seeing your sweet smiling face is just how Daddy & I like to start the day. You are always extra happy in the mornings, so much so that you will even take a little break from eating to flash Momma a smile!

Over these past 10+ weeks I have been so blessed to spend every single day with you. I have loved every minute of being home with you. Soon you will be going to daycare while Daddy & I are at work. I am not excited about, no one will take care and love you like I do. But I know you will be in good hands and you will make friends!

The first time I felt these little feet in my tummy it brought tears to my eyes, but now we are so blessed to be able to see, hold, and kiss these little feet everyday! One day these tiny toes & feet will be running all around, but for today Daddy & I will enjoy you at this stage.

I love to dress you up in all things girly, complete with ruffles, ribbons, and bows! Some say this is drive you to be a tomboy and if that is the case I will love you just the same! You don’t seem to mind bows and flowers in your hair one bit, so for now I will continue with all the frills! Surprisingly, Daddy doesn’t seem to mind all these girly things, I think its because you have him wrapped around your little finger!

Adelyn you have made your Daddy and me a family of three. We love you more than words can describe and feel completely blessed that God has entrusted us with your precious life.

Love, Mommy <3

Announcing…

2011-08-31T17:47:00.001-05:00

Now that we have sent out Adelyn’s birth announcements to our family & friends I wanted to share them with blog land too! Seems crazy she’s already grown & changed so much since these pictures were taken when she was only5 days old!

Birthday Recap

2011-08-31T17:00:00.001-05:00

Since my birthday fell on a Monday (a work day for Kyle) I spent the majority of the day with my sweet baby girl! I was A-ok with that too! Most years for my birthday I am work and it’s crazy busy. I welcomed the change this year.

My sister Wendi stopped by on her lunch break bringing balloons and a gift!

Adelyn and I went for a run in the afternoon. It was a perfect, cool summer day! We were welcomed home by my Mom and Step Dad….and ice cream!! They know me all too well!

Kyle started a new set of classes that night, but when he got home (10pm-ish!) we celebrated!! Kyle got me a cute little birthday cake and we ate the whole thing!!!

Mmmm, I love birthday cake!!

We stayed up a little later than normal (for a week night anyway!) and just enjoyed each other’s company! My gift from Kyle was a suite down in Iowa City! We will use it for a little weekend get-away in September before an Iowa game. I love this man so much! 26 was a great year, I got pregnant and we had Adelyn! I have a feeling my 27th year will be even better! I’m so blessed with an amazing husband and a beautiful baby girl!

Thanks for the birthday wishes everyone! PS we are still half way celebrating, we like to celebrate birthday weeks around here!!!

Happy Birthday Mommy!

2011-08-29T14:41:00.001-05:00

It’s my Mommy’s birthday today!!

We have spent the day napping, eating, and snapping a few pictures. Well that is what I did anyway! Mommy stays busy while I nap doing laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.

She told me she sure is enjoying her day at home with me today and so am I! She is getting old too, she turned 27 today! Mommy and I are excited for Daddy to get home and celebrate tonight!

Time to eat!

Surprise!

2011-08-29T14:23:00.001-05:00

My sister, Wendi and I have birthdays very close! Mine in the 29th of August and her’s is September 2nd! This year my Mom had an idea to throw her a little surprise party. We did it a week early so she wouldn’t have a clue!

She came to town and hung out with me and Adelyn for a while on Saturday. Then my Mom called and needed some more cheese. So I had to run to the store and go down to Mom’s house early. And she really did need more cheese, it wasn’t just a ploy to get me down there and keep Wendi away! Worked like a charm!

We got our party hats on and got ready for her big surprise!

Wendi arrived at Mom’s house and was surprised!! One friend arrived right when Wendi was getting there, so she was a little curious what was going on! But overall still surprised!

It wasn’t a huge party, but still nice! Mainly family and a few friends! My Mom and Step Dad, Duane,…and of course Adelyn!

Our friend Heidi came. This girl is a rock star, in a few weeks she’s going to be doing an Iron Man!! You go girl!!

And our friend Melissa with her little girl Melora also. She is just a month older than Hayden. And I’m pretty sure Hayden is 6 inches taller, he’s such a big boy!!

My sister and BIL also came for the night, but didn’t get a picture of them with Wendi. Mom and Duane made a great supper. They grilled some smoked chops, made cheesy potatoes, squash (first one from their garden!), and some fruit! Great summer meal!

After we were stuffed from supper we headed out to the back yard and Wendi opened her gifts!

Hayden thought he needed to help Momma with her new gifts!!

It was so cute to watch Hayden and Melora play together. I love this face that Melora makes!! So cute!!

Sisters!! I have to say I’m slightly jealous, Mindi and Preston on vacation this week. They are spending their time off relaxing at Stef & Geoff’s lake house near Omaha.

Hayden loves to run all over the yard. I think here he was trying to chew on some of Grandma’s plants before Uncle P quickly got him!

It was an overall success! But….we learned Wendi isn’t a fan of surprises! So in the future we will make sure to just have a party, no surprises! Happy early Birthday lil sis, we love you!!

Broken Computer :(

2011-08-25T12:46:00.001-05:00

I’m catching up on blogging. About two weeks ago our computer decided not to turn on anymore. We have a loaner one for a bit, so hold on tight while I catch up on what’s been going on in the Bangert family! Instead of scrolling through the blog you may click each link below to see our most recent posts.

Hope you enjoy catching up with our family!

Hand & Footprints

2011-08-25T12:44:00.001-05:00

My Mom & Step Dad’s gift to us when Adelyn was born was to get her hand & footprints done on a plate. We finally got them done this week.

A high school friend of mine opened a pottery shop in my hometown a few years ago called From Miry Clay Pottery. He does an awesome job and is very talented!

Adelyn did pretty well and cooperated when we wanted to spread her fingers out! Tyler always does 2 sets, just in case one breaks or if you wanted to give one to Grandparents, etc.

By the time we were finishing with the 2nd plate Adelyn was ready to be done, as you can see here!

Poor girl!! But I know this is something I will always treasure!! Such a great gift idea!!

Tyler and his wife Laura have a little girl named Aubrey. She’ll be 3 next month and LOVED Adelyn. She wanted to help me buckle her in, Aubrey shared her dolly, and rocked Adelyn in the car seat. It was so sweet to watch them together! And Adelyn loves to watch little kids, they really catch her attention!

This is Hayden’s plate when he was 4 weeks old! Adelyn’s will look fairly similar. It will take about 3 weeks to fire the plate and let it dry. I can’t wait to see the end result! I’ll make sure to share it with you.

Girls, Girls, Girls!

2011-08-25T12:24:00.001-05:00

After Adelyn’s appointment on Monday we had a play date with my good friend, Sara, and her 2 girls, Emma & Grace! Sara and I used to work together at the college and have stayed close friends ever since! This was the first time that we hung out with all the girls since Adelyn was born. I remember numerous conversations with Sara quite a few years ago about what it would be like once we had kids and families, look at us now!

We made our favorites that we used to have when we got together, alcohol free & calorie free margaritas & spinach artichoke dip!! The only difference was before we used to scrapbook when we got together, now we have our girls!! Emma suggested we do “cheers”! So cute!!!

Grace loved baby Adelyn!! She is 8 months old today, she was a Christmas baby!

We enjoyed the afternoon together, catching up on our lives & families and enjoying time with our girls together!! Grace is such a happy, content little girl! It’s hard to imagine Adelyn being this big, but I know it will come faster than I think!

Adelyn slept the majority of the time they were here (this was the same day she got her shots). But when we woke up we put her and Grace on the bed together and watched them interact! It was so fun to see them together!

We always have such a great time when we get together, just need to do it more often!! Especially now that we both have girls who will eventually love playing with each other!

2 Month Appointment

2011-08-25T12:10:00.001-05:00

Monday Adelyn had her 2 month “Well Baby” appointment, which meant shots. The poor sweet thing had no clue what was coming. Daddy was sad because he had a meeting that couldn’t be re-scheduled so he had to miss the appointment. This was the first appointment he’s missed since I’ve been pregnant.

Adelyn weighed exactly 13 pounds and was 24 1/4 inches long. So in 2 months she’s gained almost 3 pounds and great 2 1/4 inches!

Doctor said she looks great and is doing well. She had to get 3 shots at this appointment. The poor thing turned tomato red and cried like I’ve never heard. Momma had some tears too. My poor baby was in pain! I had a bottle ready and that helped soothe her quickly! Thankfully the rest of the afternoon Adelyn was just fine. I think it wore her out. She ended up napping from 4-7pm!

Adelyn’s First Roadtrip

2011-08-25T12:01:00.001-05:00

Last weekend Kyle, Adelyn, and I hopped in the car and headed west to Omaha to visit my sister & BIL, Stef & Geoff! Adelyn was a perfect little traveler, both on the way there & home.

We hadn’t been there since Adelyn was born and wanted to make the trip before I went back to work. We also wanted to get there before summer was over because they live on a lake!!

This was our view of Adelyn. We FINALLY got a mirror that will let us see her from the rearview mirror. I love it!! We tried a few others, but they just didn’t work well with our vehicle.

Before we left town, we stopped to get Aunt Stef some of her favorite cookies! Needless to say my prego sister was very grateful, as was her hubby!

Stef had a great supper ready for us when we got there Friday night, stuffed peppers! It was a first time for us to try them and we liked them!! (I tend to be a bit picky!) We spent the evening catching up and talking all things baby. Stef & Geoff are expecting their first baby, due Jan. 9th!

Saturday morning us girls did a little shopping! I picked up a few great deals I couldn’t pass up for Adelyn! Stef’s friend, Michaela, and her little girl, Sophie, have been staying with them for a while. Sophie loved Adelyn. It was so cute to see them play. Adelyn was completely focused on Sophie anytime she was around.

Unfortunately Sophie got sick with the flu while we were there so we didn’t get to hang out with them as much as we would have liked to. Michaela was very thoughtful to keep Sophie away from Adelyn. Thankfully Adelyn didn’t get sick!

We did a little early birthday celebration for me while we were there. Stef made a family favorite, Oreo ice cream cake!

They even arranged the candles in a 2 & 7! Hard to believe I’m going to be 27!

I think year 27 is going to be a great one! I’ve been blessed with a beautiful, happy, baby girl! How could it not be great?!?!?

Once afternoon rolled around, we hit the water! Adelyn loved being in the boat! She didn’t love the life jacket so much though! She ended up napping on my lap almost the whole time!

Kyle did some wake boarding. He hadn’t done it for a few years, but he popped right up and did great!!

It was fun to watch him! And I’m pretty sure he was enjoying himself out there! I love being out on the water. Growing up it was a regular thing for my family. We even had a cabin on a lake for about 10 years or so. I hope Adelyn has the same love for the water that I did growing up!

We took a break from the boat for some food!

Adelyn loves to be outside! And it wasn’t too hot to be out and there was just enough shade!

Aunt Stef & Uncle Geoff got her this swimsuit while I was still pregnant. When Stef gave it to me I thought it seemed quite big, but worked great for my big girl!

While us girls were relaxing in the yard, the boys were working hard! A piece on the boat lift broke, so they were busy working away to get it fixed.

After our afternoon in the sun we cleaned up and headed out for the evening. We went just a few short miles to downtown Omaha, the Old Market. It’s such a neat area in Omaha with lots of great places to check out. We were feeling a little spicy and went for Mexican food!

Geoff will soon be doing the Dad thing, carrying the baby & diaper bag!! He’s going to be a great Dad, we are so excited for them!!

The area that we ate was just gorgeous, dripping with fresh flowers & plants! Couldn't resist taking a family picture!

This little couple will soon be a family of three!! Stef is 20 weeks right now and looking great!

Sunday we had a lazy morning. Stef cooked us a nice breakfast and we took our time packing up before heading home.

We had a great time with them and love that they live so close now. A few short years ago they were 19 hours away and now it’s less than 3!! I think Adelyn was ready to be done with pictures by this one or the sun was too bright!

Random

2011-08-25T11:20:00.001-05:00

Adelyn has started to enjoy her gym mat a lot more these days. She will hit the toys and is really starting to focus on the lights & sounds. She will lay on it for a good 20 minutes and be entertained!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that Adelyn will fall asleep in our bed after her morning feeding. Well one morning I found our pup Abby curled up right up next to her. It was so sweet!

A few Friday’s ago Adelyn & I met my junior high bestie, Tawny, for lunch at our favorite local Mexican restaurant! Tawny is pregnant and due in January, so of course our lunch was all things baby & prego talk!! Love this girl and I’m so excited for her and Clayton. They will be great parents!

Our friends Kim & Steve’s lil guy, Garrett, turned 2 this month! So Adelyn got to go to her first birthday party! Garrett just got a baby brother Reece. Garrett was so sweet to Adelyn, he knew to be gentle & quiet with her!

We got Garrett the Woody doll and first thing he looked at was his boot to see if it said Andy. Nope! Kim said they’re going to put Garrett’s name on Woody’s boot!

Great Grandma DeWall stopped in for a visit! She even got to give Adelyn a bottle while she was here! Adelyn is blessed to have 3 Great Grandparents!

Mark & Jenna Visit

2011-08-24T19:50:00.001-05:00

Our friends Mark & Jenna came for the weekend a few weeks ago. They are engaged to be marred on 9/10/11!! I had to give them a proper welcome!

We spent our weekend with them catching up on everything from weddings to babies! Kyle and I also hosted a small couples shower for them one evening. Adelyn got to join the party too! She was a good girl the whole night!

We reserved the upstairs area of a downtown restaurant in our town.

I did a few small things for decorations, just to brighten the place up a bit! Couldn’t resist the opportunity!

The restaurant manager knows Mark (and that he enjoys his food!) and made him a special burger….it was HUGE!!

Since the other bridal showers were more about place settings and silverware, we figured it would be good to get something Mark would appreciate! So we picked outa few tools for him to had to his toolbox. But we couldn’t leave Jenna out, so we got her a pink tool set! She said she’s already used it!!

They had a great turnout for the night! We snapped a few segregated pictures at the end (minus a few that already left)!

We are so excited for these two and love them like family! They just need to move back to the area!! Can’t wait to stand up with them on their big day, only a little over two weeks away!!

Cory & Nikki Tie the Knot

2011-08-24T19:25:00.001-05:00

August 6th a co-worker of mine & Kyle’s and a high school friend got married. It was a beautiful outdoor wedding by the lake!

The couple had great signs & directions to get to the wedding location! Even coordinating with the wedding colors!

I loved the doors the couple used to create an entry to the isle! They actually reminded me of the doors to the sanctary of the church I grew up in! Very fun!

Nikki was of course a beautiful bride! Kyle and I both work with her at the college. She married Cory, who was a year behind me in school!

It was a hot August day and we felt bad to have Adelyn “cooking” in her carrier. So Kyle took her out and joined the other parents in the back in the much needed shade!

We sat next to our friends, Mylie and Craig. They have 2 adorable kids, Goldie & Boe! Boe is just about a month older than Adelyn! They are just too cute! I love Boe’s hat! He looks just like his Daddy!

Check out Daddy’s sweat spot from where he was holding Adelyn! ha ha!

We enjoyed our time at the reception! Or should I say we enjoyed the AC! Adelyn took a bottle and was pretty content the whole time. I just love our little family of 3!!

Had to sneak in a sister picture! I feel like I don’t see Wendi anymore. We work together and since maternity leave I only see her about once a week instead of every day.

Adelyn’s Two Months Old!!

2011-08-24T18:37:00.001-05:00

This past month has completely flown! It seems it was just yesterday that we were doing Adelyn’s 1 month post! We continue to be overwhelmed with joy and love from this sweet baby girl!

Adelyn continues to eat like a champ, about every 2 1/2 – 3 hours during the day. She has done well taking a bottle too. It is nice to pump ahead and take a bottle for when we go out & about.

This past month she has continued to follow her eat, wake, sleep schedule pretty close. She does this on her own too! Adelyn will take 2 fairly long naps (3ish hours) in the morning and then her afternoon naps are a little getting a little shorter (45 min). She started going to be bed earlier this month, usually around 9pm and she will sleep until about 6:30am! Needless to say, we are enjoying our sleep!

Adelyn is getting stronger & stronger! She sat in her bumbo seat for the first time on August 2nd and loved it! Adelyn had a big week that week, she rolled from her tummy to her back for the first time on August 4th! And that was the first week she started to smile in coo in response to us! Now Adelyn will “talk” and smile at anyone who will talk to her! Its so sweet!! That smile just melts our hearts every time!

She is still in size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes. Surprisingly we made it through her closet! Now she is having to wear outfits for the 2nd time!

Adelyn was quite the little traveler in her 2nd month of life. When she was 5 weeks old we took a trip to Okoboji, the next weekend we went to Des Moines for a family day away, and just this week we made 2 trips to Omaha to see Uncle Geoff & Aunt Stef! Adelyn also attended church for the first time this month! We’ve been a few times since and she sleeps through the whole service!

She has started to suck on her fist quite a bit. Adelyn really isn’t interested in her paci anymore, but has started to like her tag blanket. She will lick & suck on the ribbons around the edge. Her arms and hands are always so “busy”!

With the weather cooling down (under 100 degrees!) we have started to take a lot more walks! Adelyn loves them! We have also started running in the evenings. She does so good in her jogging stroller and usually falls asleep by the end of the run!

Adelyn has changed so much this month and time is going too fast! We will continue to enjoy each and every day with her! This little girl has brought us so much happiness and we love her more than anything! We feel so blessed to be her parents!!

*TWO MONTH STATS*

weight 13lbs

length 24 1/4 in

eating 100% breastfeeding

clothes 0-3 months

diapers size 1

Catching Up

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Hey everyone! Hooray the weekend is here again! Just thought I would catch you all up on what we’ve been up to in the Bangert house this week. Tuesday, August 2nd, Adelyn was 6 weeks old! Hard to believe! She is pretty strong with holding her head so I thought we’d try out the Bumbo seat! Needless to say, she loved it!! My heart just melts every time I see that toothless grin!!

Wednesday Adelyn and I went to visit my friend Jill! We used to work together at the college. Jill has 2 little boys, Luke who’s 2 1/2 and Avery who is 8 months. It was fun to catch up with her and see her family! They live on a farm outside of town and I think Adelyn thought she could just let loose on the farm…she had 2 poopy diapers (one was a blowout)! Jill says she must have scared the poop outta her! ha ha!

In the mornings during the week Kyle has been getting up to run before work to beat the heat. So I bring Adelyn in to feed her in bed with me. I just love that quiet time with her in the mornings. Well on Thursday her breakfast was so good she zonked out!

Let’s go in for a close up! I just love how she is laying on her side with her arms up by her head!! So sweet! She looked so tiny in Mommy & Daddy’s queen size bed!

Oh and another update, Adelyn has slept in her Halo Sleepsack since we brought her home from the hospital. Well she was quickly getting too long for it. Adelyn has also been an amazing sleeper, usually sleeping for 7-8 hours/night. So on Wednesday night instead of swaddling her in the sleepsack I put regular ole jammies on her. I was nervous she might wake herself up more in the night with her arms free, but nope! She did great, slept 7 1/2 hours and Friday night she slept almost 9 hours!! Hooray!!Oh and if you are wondering where I got Adelyn’s adorable onesie, it’s another SheSheMade item! Go here to see her site. I just love all her stuff, so fun!!

On Friday my friend Jill, Adelyn, and I all headed down to the Des Moines area for the Hwy 141 garage sales! Unfortunately it rained, but we still managed to find a few things we couldn’t live without! One of my few purchases for the day were these sunglasses for Adelyn! 25 cents!!!

I think we could have gone for 2 days straight and not hit all the garage sales, it was crazy!!! Jill got me started on garage saling a few years ago when we still worked together! Adelyn did really well, especially for having to sit in her car seat for the majority of the day!

She’s ready for the sun!! She didn’t mind them on at all!

Adelyn’s Baby Shower

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Last Friday some friends of mine had a very nice shower for Adelyn! We feel so blessed to have had 3 baby showers for our sweet girl!

This one was fun since she actually got to be there and not in my belly!

Can’t you just see the excitement in those eyes!?!?!

She was a hungry little girl when we got there, so first thing on the agenda was supper!

Sara was the hostess with the most-ess!! She had everything decorated and set up so nice!!

One game we played all throughout the night was where everyone was given a “baby” (an egg). You had to take care of your baby all night. If you ended the night with your “baby” you got a prize! I had 2 babies to take care of!!

We had a very nice supper complete with fresh fruit, meat, cheese, crackers, pasta salad, chicken salad pie, and ice cream cake for dessert!! Yum!!

Next up, time for gifts!! My friend Allison always makes a hooded towel for her friends’ kids with their name embroidered & everything!! And it’s a regular sized one, so Adelyn can use it for a long time!!

Bet you can’t guess who this is from?!?!? Auntie M of course!!

Ginger gave Adelyn this zebra hat with the super cute flower!! Love it!!

Adelyn got so many nice things from the girls!! Thanks everyone for the wonderful shower!! We had a great time!!