First Day of School - 9/18/09

First day of school - all smiles as we enter the classroom.

As we walked in the building Adley seem apprehensive at first, but I think she was merely observing all of the other children walking to their classrooms. Adley hung up her backpack in her cubby and was actively looking around. When I knelt down to give her a hug she put her hands on my shoulders and said "Just go." Then, she asked if she could go play with Thomas the Train. I told her that was ok, but asked for a hug. She agreed, almost as an after thought, and that was it. The school year had started!

"What did you do today?"

School ends at 11:30am and Mommy has there waiting. When I walked in the room with another mom, the 4 students were playing with play-doh. Adley looked up from her creations to acknowledge my presence and then went back to her work. The other little girl ran up to her mom and pulled her over to the table to show her mom what she made. The third mom entered the classroom and her little boy rushed up to his mom and said "Mommy!" with a big hug. Adley then turned to me and did the same: "Mommy!" with a big hug.

(Of course, I had been in the room almost 5 minutes by then...) Its ok, I have thick skin, I think.

"I love you, Mommy"

"Hi Daddy!"

Big Girl Bed - 9/16/09

We reached another milestone - leaving the crib for a big girl bed. Adley slept on a mattress with a safety rail while we were in Iowa because she had already outgrown the Pack n' Play. She made a great transition and took to the big girl bed right away even in a strange room. We brought her sheets and blankets of course but she especially enjoyed the extra blanket that GrandMary found for her to use during our visit.

When we returned home she spent one last night in the crib and then the next day we brought her toddler bed up from the garage. On Wednesday, we Adley woke up her first words were "Big Girl Bed?"

The above photo was taken about 10 minutes later. What an adaptable girl we have!

Ready for bed for the first time in the big girl bed.
(Adley already napped in the bed earlier this afternoon).

All smiles at being a Big Girl.
The enthusiasm for the Big Girl Bed has not yet waned. She loves the freedom to get in (and out) of the bed at will. She has yet to get out of bed in the night (so far so good). And she often sits in her bed during the day to read books.

Side Note: Our original intent was for Daddy to build a Big Girl Bed that would be custom made and would double as a bookshelf when the bed was no longer needed. Then we would buy her some adorable bedding we found at IKEA. Ultimately, we found that building the bed was more time consuming that we could handle and we found this adorable bed at a great price. The adorable bedding we originally found was out of stock and Mommy soon fell in love with some Strawberry Shortcake material to make a duvet cover instead.

The result was still a labor of love with a new duvet and "Strawberry Cork-cake" cover. Fortunately for Adley, GrandMary got a new sewing machine just before we arrived in Iowa and we were able to benefit from Grandma's sewing experience. Thanks GrandMary!

We arrived home from our Iowa vacation the evening of 9/15. We then had one more day as a family before Jared had to go back to work. While we unpacked we checked on all things around the house. One of the more exciting jobs was harvesting the 8 tomatoes that had turned red in our absence. We're so proud.

We took one large tomato with us to Iowa, picked the 8 you see in the above picture and another 3 since this photo was taken. Coupled with a gift of home grown veggies (including tomatoes) from a family at church we have been eating a lot of these. Luckily Adley likes them too, so that helps.

Iowa Vacation - Phase 3

Card night with Uncle Frank and Aunt Joan on Sunday night. We played 500 while Adley and Auntie Anna watched Aladdin. Good times.
Thanks for the fun toys Aunt Joan.

Wearing Auntie Anna's prom dress. Auntie Anna is SO much fun!

We elected to stay an extra day in Iowa and we had a leisurely day with GrandMary when she got home from work. This photo is representative of 30 minutes of play with a leftover bubble tube from the wedding and a very curious Izzy.

One big bonus of our trip was all the extra time Adley spent outside in the fresh air. She enjoyed playing out front with Izzy and running around the backyard taking apples to the horses. And I think we all took advantage of the beautiful weather on the back porch.

A favorite activity was heading outside to the back fence to entice the horses with an apple. The apple tree is part way up the hill, closer to the house, and Adley will only carry 1, maybe 2 apples at a time. This results in several trips up the hill to grab apples and several more down to the fence for the horses. Its a great energy burning exercise. What a win-win situation!

A beautiful sunset on our last night in Iowa.

Is Uncle Andrew ticklish under his chin?

We miss you Uncle Drew.
On Wednesday, after we returned home Adley was making "calls" on her cell phone. When I asked her who she was talking to she said, "Oh, that was Uncle Drew."

Gotta love Auntie Anna!
Trying to entice Adley to finish ready for church (9/20) I told her we should put on her shoes because we were going to a party (a 50th Anniversary) and she asked if she could dance.
"Sure," says Mommy.
"With Auntie Anna?" asks Adley.
Sorry baby doll - I miss her too.

Vacation in Iowa - Clay County Fair

On Saturday, 9/12/09 Grandpa Al treated us to a visit to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, IA.
This picture is not only a rare family photo but was taken to show Chris & Heather that we were in Spencer! Small world, huh?

Anyway, we had a great time at the fair visiting the horses, the pigs (including 9 baby piglets) and the poultry buildings. We tried to see the Elephant Encounter but there were too many people. Adley will tell you first thing that she saw elephants at the fair (I think they made quite an impression).

This corn pit was in one of the first exhibition buildings we visited and Adley was riveted.
It was long before...

...she had her shoes off and jumped right in with the other kids.

Many of the exhibits featured a child coloring or other craft area.
And I think we took advantage of 90% of them.

Also from the ISU exhibit - a redbird hat that Adley just had to have after observing several other children with the same.
Sorry Uncle Noah and Aunt Wendy, we didn't see any Hawkeye hats.

Daddy and Me. We forgot a hat for Adley but Daddy's was a good substitute.

After several animal buildings and 3 exhibit halls Adley was content to recline in the wagon. GrandMary came up with the brilliant idea to bring the wagon with us and the blanket that made the wagon so comfy. Thanks Grandma!

Nap time at the Clay County Fair

Vacation in Iowa - phase 1

Our whole Eggebraaten Family
Michelle & Lil' Kicker, Jared, Auntie Anna, Adley, Noah, Wendy, Peter, Rhiannon, Andrew, GrandMary and Grandpa Al. What a crew!

Enjoying some good time with GrandMary and Grandpa Al.
Adley especially enjoyed helping Grandma and Grandpa with all of the chores. She rode in the wagon to get the eggs, water the horses and pick tomatoes in Grandma's garden. What a busy girl.

Opening wedding gifts. You never know when the newlyweds might need a little help.

Showing off a new dress-up skirt from GrandMary.

Our best picture with Grandpa Don before he flew back to California.
Thanks for coming Grandpa Don & Happy Birthday too!

In order of appearance: Adley, Joker, Nell and Brago.
And yes, Adley can tell them all apart.
The horses are also well acquainted with Adley. They know she's the toddler who will get them an unlimited supply of apples! Not sure who enjoyed the exchange more.

Our Date Day.
On Thursday of our vacation we took off for the whole afternoon. We had lunch at Suzie Q's Cafe because it was recommended as somewhere unique. We had wonderful tenderloin sandwiches and enjoyed the local flavor. Before lunch we walked around downtown Clear Lake and after lunch we window-shopped in Mason City until it was time for our movie. We saw Julia and Julie and we both enjoyed it. Adley stayed with GrandMary and Auntie Anna and even took a good nap for them.

All in all - a good day. Thanks Grandma & Auntie Anna!

Amores Escondidos
...or fried bananas with cheese - Ecuador style.
Uncle Noah and Aunt Wendy had a number of their international friends come to their wedding including Cesar, who was the son of the family that Uncle Noah spent the year with in Ecuador, otherwise known as his "host-brother." On his last night in Iowa, Cesar made Amores Escondidos for us which translates roughly into "hide-and-seek love." Ok, so a very rough translation but we all enjoyed the food.

Thanks Cesar!

Two of Adley's favorite activities at Grandma & Grandpa's house were playing with Izzy and bossing Izzy around. On this day, Izzy had a bath and then she donned her new ballerina costume. Adley was upset because she wasn't wearing a dress which prompted a costume change. Once Adley and Izzy were matching it was time for a photo shoot.

Which one is enjoying this more?

A rare photo opportunity with Mommy and the horses. This time we were out in the pasture with them and Adley wasn't afraid at all. The horses are still looking for their apples.

Flower Girl - 9/5/09

On Saturday, September 5, Uncle Noah and Aunt Wendy were married in Forest City, IA. These pictures are from the photo shoot a couple of hours before the ceremony on the grounds of Waldorf College. It was quite the family affair. Uncle Drew and Uncle Peter were groomsmen and Auntie Anna was a bridesmaid.
The beautiful flower girl was our own Adley, of course!

Uncle Noel drove his classic Cadillac down from Wisconsin as a beautiful backdrop for many of the photos. Check out that smile!

With the bride and groom during the "act silly" shot. I think someone told Adley to put the basket on her head but I'm not quite sure.

Auntie Anna & Adley
Adley liked Auntie Anna's flowers better than her basket of petals. Auntie Anna designed all the flowers for the wedding and Adley was impressed.

Daddy & Daughter

A new pose - already an experienced flower girl.

Toasting to the newlyweds!
Don't worry...she's drinking sparkling cider NOT champagne.

Mommy couldn't resist a picture of Adley's hair. We received quite a few compliments and one woman asked if she could take a picture of it to try on her own granddaughter. That was fun!

One of the first few dances.

Dancing the night away. Adley probably danced for a solid 3 hours barely stopping for a quick drink or a bite to eat. When we finally buckled her into her car seat at 1am she was out in an instant.

What a performer! The fact that everyone else on the dance floor was easily 3ft taller didn't phase her at all. That's right, no other children to dance with. That was ok, though, Adley works best as a solo performer.

Getting Ready for School

Beginning 9/18/09 Adley will be a student in the Preschool 2 class on Friday mornings at the Early Childhood Center at our church. She is very excited to go to school with other kids, to play with toys and to use her backpack. We all have lots of learning opportunities this fall/winter!

On Thursday, 9/3/09, the preschool had a "play day" for the Preschool 2 students to come with their parents and meet their teacher and preview the classroom. There were other children there but it was run like an open house so the students in Adley's Friday class were not there when we went.

We haven't had the first day of school yet, but Mommy already has two homework assignments. Stay tuned for pictures of our preschool projects and the first day of school coming 9/18/09!

Most of the play was individual with several children playing side by side. Adley enjoyed herself, of course, finding all the new toys, meeting Miss Beth and Miss Chris and watching the other kids. She was most focused while she played so we had a hard time catching a smile with the camera. Her concentration was fun to watch.

A brief commercial break - we got a new camera!
This photo is an example of what we can do. This was shot from across the room, approximately 12 ft. away and we're very excited to get more action/and close-up shots than our last camera. Enjoy!