Two Months Old

Happy Two Months, Sweet Adley Grace!

       The month of April was a wonderful month of getting to know our little daughter better-- figuring out her patterns and determining what makes her happy. We are loving having this girl as part of our family! Here are some current facts about Adley:

   PHYSICAL

• 14 lbs. and 24 inches long
• Likes to stretch legs and "climb up" Mommy or Daddy's chest 
• Not a big fan of tummy time 
• Enjoys kicking and moving arms when lying on the floor
• Loves gripping onto Mommy or Daddy's fingers
• Found her fist and loves sucking on it!
• Transitioned to size 2 diapers

SLEEPING HABITS

• Had one glorious night of sleeping through the night! (10:30-5:00)
• Most nights sleeps for one longer stretch (4-6 hours) then stays awake for 1-2 hours in the wee early hours of morning
• Doesn't typically fall asleep easily at night/ needs to be bounced
• Calms down best when swaddled and given a pacifier
• Naps are very inconsistent-- between 15 minutes to 2 hours

SOCIAL

• Started making cute cooing noises
• Holds gaze for longer stretches and can track people and objects
• Had her first smile at 7 weeks old

Actual day of her first smile, though didn't smile nearly as well for the camera!

OTHER

• Can be content in the bouncer or swing for longer stretches (esp. after eating!)
• LOTS of spit-up this month
• Loves taking baths now that we no longer use the bath hammock
• Likes listening to music at night and in the car
• Favorite place to be is in someone's arms; second favorite is the bouncer

Adorable outfit borrowed from cousin Abby!

Adley's big brothers continue to be so proud of her! Now that Adley has better neck control, Jaden and Cody enjoy holding her in a sitting position. Adley is very content lounging out with her brothers this way and can sit with them through the reading of an entire book.

 We all adore this precious 2-month-old and can't wait to see how she continues to grow and develop. We love you so much, sweet girl!

Soccer Highlights

Jaden and Cody's soccer season this spring consisted of 10 games, and by the end, their little team ended up being undefeated. This fact certainly contributed to our boys' enjoyment of the game during their first exposure to soccer! It was fun seeing Cody and Jaden's growth over the course of the season. Plus, with so much of our attention devoted to Adley this spring, Jason and I were happy to have something special just for Jaden and Cody. Here is their team of fellow 4 and 5 year olds during a practice.

The Pirates:
Aiden, Bella, Riley, Grayson, Cody, Jaden, Mason, Brayden, Conner, Preston

JADEN'S HIGHLIGHTS

Early on in the season, Jaden developed a knack for defensive playing, often chasing after his opponents if they were on a break-away and kicking the ball out of bounds before the players could score. If the ball was coming downfield towards him, Jaden would often back up to position himself between the ball and the opposing goal. He was always thinking defense! Jaden also got a lot of practice doing kick-ins. He was an alert little player who put a lot of thought into the game. I loved watching him run across the field with an eager bounce in his step. Jaden scored a few goals during the season, too! We were quite proud of our #8 soccer player!

CODY'S HIGHLIGHTS

Cody was our quick offensive player this season. He scored his first goal during game #2 (the game that Mommy and Daddy missed because we were in the hospital with Adley!) and then got on a roll. Cody scored at least one goal during every game after that too, with the exception of just the very last game. After every goal, Cody would make a small fist pump and then give a BIG smile over to the sidelines. Defensively, our little #10 player kept good tabs on his opponents and quickly chased them down if they got away with the ball. Cody was also so much fun to watch on the sidelines. Even when he wasn't in the game, he would watch every move intently, shout out directions to other players, and jump out of his seat to cheer on his teammates. Even though no one ever really announced or posted any score, Cody always kept track of how many goals each team had. He was a motivated and competitive little player. We were very proud of our little #10!

BOTH BOYS

Being on a soccer team made our boys think about soccer a LOT! All of a sudden, they wanted to kick their soccer balls all the time at home. They even developed a game of at-home "animal soccer" (using their stuffed animals to hit one of Adley's soft little balls across the floor into a goal). It has been fun for us to watch their little sports minds begin to develop. :)

On the soccer field, the boys' coach most often played Cody and Jaden at separate times. We think this was so he didn't have to worry about telling them apart! For whatever reason he did it, it was nice for this mommy and daddy to always have a kid on the field to watch. It kept their games much more interesting! :) During a handful of games, however, the coach did put our boys in the game together. A few times they even passed the ball to each other. Most often, though, both boys were just among the giant herd of children that was always surrounding the ball.

 

Jaden and Cody were blessed to have LOTS of family fan support for their games. The boys loved having family members cheer for them on the sidelines. What an encouraging family! (Uncle Jon, Aunt Chelsea and Isaiah made it out for a couple of games too, but we missed taking their picture. Sorry, guys!)

Uncle Matt-- likely our most enthusiastic fan! :)

 Grandma and Grandpa get the award for traveling the farthest to the game!

Nathan, Ryan and Ian designed their own #8 and #10 signs for our boys. So cute!

Cody, Abby, Uncle Andrew, Grammy, Adley, Jaden, Papa, Daddy

Grammy and Papa came to almost every game! They often cashed in on some cuddle time with our littlest fan. :)

After she was born and out of the hospital, this little sweetie didn't miss a game!

Our biggest fan crew came out for the boys' final game. Thanks, everyone!

We appreciated the boys' coach, Coach Nunez, for his gentle, encouraging spirit and for his commitment to coaching even with a torn ACL.

Way to go, Pirates, for a great soccer season! :)

Easter Sunday

All of our family Easter activities led up to this festive day-- Easter Sunday, the celebration of our Savior Jesus' resurrection. Salem's service was joyous and worshipful, one of my very favorite church services of the year. We loved having Andrew, Sarah, Ben, and Abby worship with us this year, too. Here is our family's Easter pic.

Many thanks to Grammy and Papa for finding the cutest of outfits for all three of our children! I especially loved Adley's precious little pink shoes. :)

Adley's first Easter:

Between all of the church services, Salem hosted egg hunts for the children. Hundreds of eggs were already strewn about various rooms (separated by age groups), and the kids were instructed to collect 20 eggs apiece. This come-as-you-please format made for a very relaxed egg hunt. It was perfect!

These three cousins listened carefully to the directions...

...and then ran to fill their buckets as soon as they were given the go-ahead!

Opening up the eggs and finding yummy candy is always the best part!

That evening, the whole family gathered at Jon and Chelsea's home for a tasty ham dinner. Aunt Kim planned several fun Easter activities for the kids including an egg matching game...

and a real egg hunt (no simple egg gathering off the ground this time!). Each of the kiddos was assigned a certain color of egg to find and collect. As you can see, the kids were quite eager to begin!

Cody hunted for green eggs...

...while Jaden was on the lookout for blue.

Adley slept through her first family egg hunt, but we'll likely get her on board next year! :)

After finding all 10 eggs, the kids opened each egg to find a task to complete (like take 5 steps backwards or hop 8 times).

Jaden and Cody were both especially enthusiastic about the donkey kicks!

After completing all their tasks, the kids traded their eggs in for a bag of Easter candy and a collection of coins. Our boys were thrilled! Best egg hunt all year. What fun ideas, Aunt Kim!

We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out before eventually putting all the kids to bed and having some adult game time. We love these regular family get-togethers!