Taking a break

Addie will be 7 months old tomorrow. She is talking up a storm! Her favorite thing to say is, "da-da-da-da," much to her mother's chagrin. But just last week she finally started saying, "ma-ma-ma-ma." This chic is so close to crawling! She gets up on all fours with her stomach off the ground and rocks back and forth. She can scoot backwards, but hasn't figured out forwards just yet. Even though she isn't crawling, she manages to move all over the place just fine between the rolling, scooting, and rocking. Yesterday, I found her hanging out under the couch. She was pretty proud of herself!

So unlike BYU, UVa actually has breaks every now and then. It's wonderful! Last week was fall break, 3 days off from classes. We spent our break in Outerbanks, North Carolina with 9 other LDS families in one gigantic beach house. It was such a fun trip! Many of the students came back on Wednesday so they could make it to class on Thursday, like John. But Addie and I decided we didn't have to be back, so we enjoyed a few more days at the beach.

John's been able to stay on top of his studies and made it through midterms in one piece. In celebration of that, he and a few buddies from school competed in the ultimate challenge called Tough Mudder. It was a 9 1/2 mile run up and down black diamond ski slopes with 25 crazy obstacles throughout the course. Some of the obstacles included carrying heavy stumps up a steep hill, swimming through water with chunks of ice in it, running through live wires, climbing up and over a half pipe, and lots more! I can't believe John made it through the entire thing, we were so proud of him! Julie was here visiting us and she whipped out her camera and got a few great action shots.

1/2

Yup, our little lady turned 6 months this past week. That's 1/2 a year! How did the time pass so quickly?? Despite the 6 month shots and a little extra fussiness from teething, our sunshine girl has been as happy as ever. So what does a typical 6 month old do? Well, I'm not quite sure. But here's what Adeline does....

she feeds herself

she sits up tall (with a few wobbles)

she plays with the boys

she laughs a lot

she rides in shopping carts

she goes on long walks

she gives good back scratches

...and great hugs!!

here's our little chatterbox

When September Ends

September has flown by. John is well into the meat of his courses and is beginning to outline, with the ever present thought of finals in the back of his mind. John begins every day at 6:30 by working out (lifting or a long run) with a few other friends from school. He's taken an 8-6ish approach to his work, starting early and studying between and after classes so that when he comes home we have his undivided attention.

Softball has been something he looks forward to, another distraction from studying. He is now playing on 3 different teams. (He even got me to join one...I actually hit the ball too!) As captain of his section's team, John was responsible for getting sponsors and designing their team's jerseys. John got a great local pizza place called Slice as well as a grad bar called Backyard to sponsor the team. It's sort of a tradition that the names of the sections be a little controversial. Remember that John is in section E. They came up with Ex-parte, a legal term referring to motions or hearings done on behalf of one party. Then, just to be scandalous, they added a section symbol to the front of the name. The jersey's came out great and we even did an iron-on version for Adeline and another baby in the section (I know...horrible mother).

Team mascot

The famDad running home

Addie has been changing every day. She isn't crawling yet, but is able to get pretty much anywhere she wants by rolling around. She's turning 6 months this week and we cannot believe it's already been half a year! She's been such a happy girl and greets her Daddy with a huge smile every evening when he walks in the door. She's sitting up with some help, without it she sometimes topples forward. She and I have recently joined a Baby Boot Camp workout class and she enjoys jogging around and participating in the exercises with Mom.

Fletch took some adorable shots of Adeline while visiting.

Sarah Fletcher Photography @ sarahfletcherphoto.com

Sarah Fletcher Photography @ sarahfletcherphoto.com

She has enjoyed having a few visitors here in Charlottesville (Uncle Dave, Aunt Gloria, Cousin Emma, as well as "Aunt" Fletch) and has also been able to see some extended family on a short trip back to Maryland. Our door is always open to visitors, we have a blow up mattress and some pretty comfy couches. Come visit our sweet girl!

Emma came to play

Pajama party

Goodnight story with Dad

Cute Birthday Mommas

During our quick trip to MD Addie got to watch Uncle Shayne score a touchdown, just for her!!

The girls, Addie, Mommy, Cici, and Muzzie

Love these cheeks

Big Win

First two weeks of law school are over and John wants to keep at it, so I guess that's a good sign! We are loving Charlottesville so far. We have made lots of new friends, mostly other LDS families here for school. We have been trying to get involved and go to all the social gatherings. We made red beans and rice for one potluck and jambalaya for another. We have hosted dinner for a few a John's classmates as well as bookclub for some girls in the ward.

John was elected as one of the softball captains for his section. Softball is a big UVA tradition and they sure do take it seriously. Last night there was a big event called the Dandelion Parade. Each section (there are 12) of first year law students, 1L's, was expected to plan and perform a skit/dance to represent their section in front of the older students. It was a fierce competition and the winners had to play the 3L's in the first opening softball game of the season. John's section is section E and so they did their skit and dance about the "E"arthquake. It was pretty cute and they even got their elderly professor involved, which everyone LOVED. John's section stole first place and they played in the game right after! Even though there was lots of drinking and typical college inappropriateness... it was a fun evening and we all really enjoyed it. John was pretty proud about their big win (although the softball game was another story!)

celebrating the big win

As for his actual education, he is really liking his classes, professors, and section mates. His favorite class is civil procedure, which he tried to explain to me is something about how the law works and what the rules are.

Addie has been such a happy girl lately. Everyone loves her and can't believe how well mannered she is. We have been trying to switch to a more consistent nap schedule-- set hours, less naps, longer naps-- that way Mom can get more done!! It has been a pretty smooth adjustment this week which makes everyone, including baby, very smiley! We have also begun to introduce a few solid foods. So far we have done rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots. She's not a big fan of the veggies, but we want to try to get her use to those before we bring on the good stuff a.k.a. FRUIT! Here are a few shots of our doll.

she didn't like carrots much

sleepy time with Samson

our girly girl

A little behind...

Well it's been almost a month since we last posted. While not much happens in a month for boring old adult life, with Addie, it's a whole 'nother story!!! She is getting to be so much fun. In fact, Uncle Andrew--who is NOT a little baby person (he refers to Adeline as the worm) was overheard saying, "She is actually kind of enjoyable to be around now." Addie smiles at everyone, even admiring strangers at the grocery store. She's discovered her toys and has become somewhat good at entertaining herself.Samson's become much more careful around her when she's on the ground and the two can often be found lying close together keeping each other company. Addie is a little chatter box and loves to talk and laugh with Mom and Dad. John is already worried about the distractions she's going to cause him when he should be studying because she is just so fun to be around!

We finished our move the Charlottesville, VA and John is nervously anticipating the beginning of school! More on that to come :)

Smells so sweet

Our happy Adeline!

Playing with her new friend from Grandpa Kevin

Silly little girl

Meeting Aunt Sarah in person!